SHANGHAI, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese internet giant Baidu aims to cultivate 5 million artificial intelligence (AI) workers in five years, as it positions itself as an AI platform company that empowers the industry, according to Robin Li, chairman and CEO.
Speaking at the 2020 World Artificial Intelligence Conference that opened Thursday in Shanghai, Li said new infrastructure with AI as the core is expected to greatly improve efficiency in fields such as transportation and energy, and spur economic growth.
He estimated that intelligent infrastructure based on vehicle-infrastructure cooperation is expected to improve traffic efficiency by 15 to 30 percent, thus bringing 2.4 to 4.8 percent absolute economic growth.
The Chinese search giant made AI development and building AI platforms a strategy a decade ago and is foraying into autonomous driving and smart transportation in recent years, according to Li.
Baidu reported a non-GAAP net profit of 3.1 billion yuan (about 442 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2020, a leap of 219 percent year on year, despite the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. Enditem
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