Baidu reports better-than-expected profit thanks to stronger AI capabilities

Chinese search giant Baidu said earnings in the second quarter surged 45 percent to US$967 million thanks to rising advertising income. 

Revenue rose 24.4 percent to 25.97 billion yuan (US$3.8 billion) from 20.87 billion yuan a year ago, and advertising business posted a 25 percent increase to 21.1 billion yuan.

The search company has been promoting its news feed product which relies less on users' search requests and automatically matches advertising with news content that readers are interested in. 

"Our search business exhibited robust revenue growth driven by AI-powered monetization capabilities and the Baidu feed continuing strong traffic and monetization momentum," said Baidu Chairman and CEO Robin Li.

Baidu released its latest Apollo 3.0 artificial intelligence platform for the mass commercial production of self-driving vehicles, which enables better human-vehicle interaction for minibus and valet parking, at the Baidu Create 2018 AI Developer Conference last month. 

It has also upgraded its AI-powered ad monitoring system and its search and newsfeed application had 148 million daily active users in June. 

NASDAQ-listed Baidu added more than three percent in after hours trading on Tuesday. 

The company expects revenue to be between US$4.02 billion and US$4.23 billion in the third quarter.