In the “post-search era”, will Baidu rely on self-driving cars to survive?

According to foreign media reports, the reason why Baidu chose to cooperate with Beijing Automotive Corporation was mainly to continue to survive in the "post-search era".

Baidu and BAIC Motor announced today that they have signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. According to the agreement, Baidu and BAIC Motor will carry out all-round cooperation in the fields of digital in-vehicle information services, intelligent connected vehicles and intelligent driving.

First of all, the agreement is reasonable. The two companies plan to cooperate in the field of smart car technology through two projects. In the next six months, cars produced by Beijing Auto will be equipped with car networking solutions developed by Baidu.

Next, the two parties plan to conduct road tests on a semi-autonomous driving car by the end of the year. The car will be equipped with high-precision maps and Baidu's CarLife operating system with built-in voice and navigation assistants. It is called a "semi-autonomous driving car" because it belongs to the "L3" level, that is, the system itself can achieve most car control and acceleration operations, and monitor the driving environment, but cannot achieve full autonomous driving like the "L5" level.

Baidu has invested a lot of time and money in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence technologies, which has put it at the forefront of the global autonomous vehicle field, or at least not behind other competitors. But like Google , these projects have not yet contributed much revenue to Baidu.

But unlike Google, Baidu's revenue and profit growth are slowing, which means shareholders don't have much patience waiting for these "moonshots" to start "moonshotting." Investors have lost patience with Baidu's inability to change its business model. Compared with two years ago, Baidu's stock price has fallen 40%.

This means Baidu needs to clearly demonstrate its business model to investors. If Baidu only regards BAIC's cars as installation carriers for its own platform, with the purpose of obtaining some additional revenue in the future, just like the role Android plays in Google's search business, then Baidu's driverless technology can only be used to brush up its presence.

Of course, if Baidu can monetize through licensing and ongoing service revenue, then there is reason to believe that Baidu could become a long-term winner in this market, hopefully making Baidu's services stand out from those of competitors such as Google.

Another question is: Can Baidu bring its autonomous driving technology to the world? Baidu has already cooperated with international brands such as Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Chevrolet in terms of intelligent car systems. In the future, whether it can convince these well-known car brands to deploy its driverless technology will be an important indicator of the true potential of Baidu's system.

So far, Chinese companies such as Baidu, Alibaba and Xiaomi have not been particularly successful in exporting technology overseas. With world-leading technology in hand, Baidu and its investors need to ensure they seize these opportunities when they are needed most.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.