Baidu Revenue Slips 4% as AI Cloud Growth Can't Offset Ad Slump

Baidu's second-quarter revenue fell 4 percent year on year to 31.3 billion yuan, missing the 31.6 billion yuan consensus, as a 19 percent drop in online marketing to 13.1 billion yuan offset gains in AI-related businesses. AI operations including cloud, applications, and marketing services rose 25 percent to 12.5 billion yuan, cushioning the decline. AI cloud surged 50 percent to 7.3 billion yuan, while AI applications inched up 3 percent to 2.5 billion yuan and marketing services stayed flat at 2.6 billion yuan. Net profit reached 2.3 billion yuan. CEO Robin Li Yanhong said the momentum reaffirms Baidu's shift from an internet-centric to an AI-first company, noting that in the first quarter AI-powered operations accounted for over half of general business revenue for the first time.