Author｜Wang Bin

Cover｜Jiyue

No one who pays attention to artificial intelligence (AI) can ignore this year's Baidu World Conference. Even though there have been numerous large model-related press conferences in China over the past two years, few have garnered as much attention as Baidu's.

Part of the reason is Baidu's leadership in AI. This technology-focused internet company has invested the most time and money in AI research and development over the past decade. At a critical juncture of technological change, the market is more inclined to focus on leading companies.

As Baidu's most important annual strategy, technology, and product conference, the World Conference also serves as a window for the industry to glimpse the direction of AI development. Baidu showcased many innovative technologies and products at this conference, such as iRAG for eliminating text-to-image hallucinations, the no-code generation tool Miaoda, and the Free Canvas based on Baidu Docs and Baidu Netdisk. These products collectively underscore the theme of "applications are here" as articulated by Robin Li.

Attending the conference in person, one can see AI everywhere, from AI glasses to humanoid robots, from various agent applications to digital avatars, and even in industries such as health, education, and automobiles, which have all been reshaped by AI.

However, visitors may get a more intuitive sense of AI applications from the new energy vehicles on display at the exhibition. The area dedicated to intelligent automotive technology was the largest at the conference.

Jiyue Automobile, a joint venture between Baidu and Geely, was a particular highlight. In fact, you can experience almost all Baidu AI applications within a Jiyue vehicle, whether it's the ERNIE Bot large model, Apollo intelligent driving, Baidu Intelligent Cloud Qianfan large model, or Baidu Netdisk, maps, and even the Xiaodu vehicle-home ecosystem, all seamlessly available in the car, embodying the theme of "applications are here".

At the recently opened Guangzhou Auto Show, Jiyue took it a step further by applying Baidu AI to a supercar representing the ultimate performance of automobiles. This is the world's first AI-driven supercar, named ROBO X by Jiyue, combining extreme aesthetics, cutting-edge AI technology, and peak performance. With the full support of Baidu's AI ecosystem, this could be the most powerful electric supercar in terms of AI capabilities for a long time to come.

Jiyue ROBO X

Previously acclaimed as the most beautiful 7-series, Jiyue 07 also introduced a limited Passion edition featuring a "Race Mode" with Brembo four-piston high-performance calipers, allowing you to experience the thrilling speed of an automotive robot even on the racetrack.

In Robin Li's words, Jiyue is the "culmination of Baidu AI." Over the past few years, Baidu AI has flourished in various fields, making it one of the most committed companies in driving the AI application market. To some extent, Jiyue, which integrates almost all of Baidu's cutting-edge AI technologies, is the most concrete expression of this determination, like a warship concentrating all resources to unwaveringly open the gateway to the AI empire.

01｜The first thing you see is the car

For most guests attending the Baidu World Conference, their first impression of AI upon arrival is often the cars. As a strategic partner of this year's Baidu World Conference, Jiyue provided transportation for all guests. Two Jiyue vehicles were prominently placed at the entrance to the Shanghai World Expo Center, the venue of the conference, making it hard to miss.

Jiyue is a strategic partner of Baidu World 2024

Baidu set the theme of this year's conference as "Applications Are Here," with Robin Li explaining that they hoped to share Baidu's explorations and pathways with the industry to help more people find their own development paths and directions.

Baidu also set up an "AI Application Town" to showcase AI applications across various industries, covering scenarios such as life, work, entertainment, travel, and healthcare, allowing visitors to experience the charm of AI up close.

AI Application Town

Many of the latest AI applications launched by Robin Li at the conference can be found in the town. For example, Robin Li emphasized agent applications. Many media outlets visited the "Agent Workshop" in the town to experience creating a dedicated agent in just a few minutes. China Business News highlighted in its report that "everyone can create an agent, and AI applications are being upgraded again."

In this 5,000-square-meter application town, Jiyue's presence was also evident everywhere. In addition to Jiyue's own 150-square-meter booth, the intelligent driving booth also featured Jiyue's latest 07 model to showcase the pure vision high-level intelligent driving capabilities of Baidu Apollo. An industry insider attending the conference on-site said that the application town had almost become a mini auto show.

Jiyue 07 unveiled in the AI Application Town

Many industry insiders may have experienced the charm of "automotive robots" for the first time. This is how Xia Yiping, CEO of Jiyue, defines Jiyue. Unlike most new-energy vehicle makers, Jiyue focused on AI from its inception. Xia said that in the era of AI, cars are no longer just simple transportation tools but rather AI assistants with thinking capabilities. This was also Robin Li's early assessment of Jiyue, stating that "electrification is the midpoint, and intelligence is the endpoint."

Based on this positioning, Jiyue's vehicles have shed many constraints of traditional cars. They were among the first to bring large models onto vehicles, the first to make speech recognition in new energy vehicles usable outside the car, and the first domestic automaker to fully bet on pure vision high-level intelligent driving.

Many automated features that were previously impossible with traditional automotive engineering are now available in Jiyue vehicles. For example, the gear shift function. Initially, no one understood when they eliminated the physical gear shift, but with intelligent enhancements, Jiyue 07 achieved automatic parking gear shifting, the only one in China.

Jiyue 07

These radical attempts are not just for show. Xia Yiping has provided many explanations for this. In his view, we have now entered the era of smart cars 3.0, with the core being AI-driven car evolution, and the ultimate goal of this era being autonomous driving. Many of Jiyue's designs revolve around this AI-driven core. Robin Li also gave a vivid example during a live broadcast with Xia Yiping, stating that when the first iPhone removed the physical keyboard, many people were uncomfortable, but later realized it wasn't needed.

This is also why they bet earlier on the pure vision approach – if they already knew that pure vision and end-to-end solutions were the ultimate answers, why continue using LiDAR?

The physical keyboard on a phone is obsolete in the smartphone era, and LiDAR is similarly a crutch that will eventually be phased out in intelligent driving. They were willing to bear the initial sunk costs for this decision, which was also supported by Robin Li. It was not until the second half of this year that more domestic automakers implemented pure vision technology in their vehicles.

To some extent, this AI-powered car is the best illustration of AI applications at this year's Baidu World Conference.

02｜The culmination of Baidu AI

Xia Yiping, CEO of Jiyue, spent the entire day at the Baidu World Conference. It may have been more convenient for him to attend this year. The Baidu World Conference has been held for 18 years, with this being the second time it has been held in Shanghai, where Jiyue Automobile's headquarters are also located.

Xia Yiping at Baidu World 2024

Xia Yiping filmed a short video to share his experience. He said that the era of intelligence has arrived, and "everyone should embrace the era of intelligence with unlimited possibilities."

The last time he and Robin Li appeared together in public was at the Jiyue 07 launch event two months ago. This was Jiyue's second model. Xia Yiping said on stage that it was thanks to Baidu's relentless investment in AI over the past decade that Jiyue now leads in intelligent driving.

Jiyue 07 launch event with Li Bin, Robin Li, and Zeng Yuqun (from left to right)

You can experience almost all of Baidu's cutting-edge AI applications in Jiyue vehicles. Baidu's first vehicle to feature the ERNIE Bot large model was Jiyue, and all Jiyue vehicles are equipped with Baidu ASD Apollo's high-level intelligent driving system. Jiyue's end-cloud integrated architecture directly connects to Baidu Intelligent Cloud's Qianfan large model in the cloud.

At times, you may even experience more powerful Baidu AI applications within the car than in other scenarios. For example, the latest ERNIE Bot 4.0 still requires a paid subscription on the app, but it is available for free in Jiyue vehicles.

Many of Jiyue's proud features are supported by Baidu AI. Besides the familiar intelligent driving and large models, Jiyue's speech recognition that works outside the car was also achieved through joint efforts with Baidu, leveraging Baidu's acoustic large model. Robin Li also sang high praise for this, emphasizing during a live broadcast that buying a Jiyue 01 is not only getting a dedicated "driver" but also a versatile "assistant."

Robin Li and Xia Yiping live-streaming from inside a Jiyue 01

At last year's Baidu World Conference, Robin Li demonstrated Jiyue 01's voice interaction capabilities powered by a large model on stage. He said that large models in cars would reshape the intelligent driving experience, and that Jiyue 01, fully empowered by Baidu AI, would become the smartest and most understanding automotive robot.

In fact, over the past few years, whether it was Baidu's year-end World Conference or the annual Create AI Developer Conference, Jiyue has been present. Each year, Baidu's latest AI technologies have also been the first to be implemented in Jiyue models. Baidu Maps' LD Maps, launched through a visual perception large model, was also first implemented in Jiyue vehicles for mass production.

This may also be one of the "missions" Jiyue undertook from its inception. Jiyue Automobile's predecessor was Jidu Automobile, whose name was generated by Baidu AI. At the time, media quoted an internal Baidu source stating that Baidu used AI algorithms to generate over 100 names for the automotive company, ultimately selecting "Jidu," with the brand interpretation being "the culmination of Baidu's AI capabilities."

Baidu AI applications integrated into Jiyue

In July 2021, just four months after Jidu's establishment, Robin Li visited the company to boost morale among all employees. He said that Jidu embodied Baidu's dream of building cars, hoping to bring Baidu's most advanced AI technologies to the market as soon as possible. At that year's Automotive Robot Ecosystem Conference, he directly stated that Jidu's autonomous driving technology would be one generation ahead of Tesla's.

Xia Yiping later said in an interview with the media that Robin Li did not instruct him what to do during car manufacturing but rather helped mobilize resources behind the scenes, "focusing the company's best teams and technologies on my products and helping me fight the battle together."

Xia Yiping said that many of the company's broad directions were discussed and agreed upon together, such as how to approach intelligence, the impact of large models in cars, and whether to pursue pure vision. This year, Xia Yiping began learning to become an internet celebrity, also at Robin Li's initiative.

A Jiyue employee told Shanshang that they constantly needed to communicate with relevant Baidu technical teams during research and development. A Baidu technical staff member proudly told her that this car represented Baidu's pride, "All of Baidu AI's advancements are used in this car."

03｜Launching Baidu's intelligent driving in the market

In 2017, four years after Baidu established its Institute of Deep Learning, Robin Li publicly proclaimed Baidu's "All in AI" slogan for the first time. At that year's Baidu World Conference, Robin Li specifically demonstrated Baidu's autonomous driving capabilities by driving a modified Baidu autonomous vehicle on Beijing's 5th Ring Road.

The following year at the World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference, he said that after they began using AI technology to transform Baidu's business, they discovered that AI could also transform another major industry, namely automobiles. In 2013, Baidu began establishing an autonomous driving R&D team. By 2017, the autonomous driving team had been upgraded to the Intelligent Driving Group (IDG).

Over the past decade, Baidu has invested 170 billion yuan in AI research and development, establishing the world's largest intelligent driving ecosystem. After the outbreak of the large model trend, Robin Li directly stated at this year's Baidu Create AI Developer Conference that the largest application scenario for visual large models is autonomous driving.

This year, Baidu's Luobo Kuaipao driverless vehicle has been upgraded to the sixth generation. According to Baidu's second-quarter report this year, the company provided approximately 899,000 ride-hailing services in that quarter, a year-on-year increase of 26%. As of July 28, autonomous driving services have provided over 7 million ride-hailing services nationwide.

However, true driverless technology still requires waiting. After the statement "Luobo Kuaipao will replace human drivers" went viral online, Robin Li emphasized in an internal company sharing that this is a long-term process that cannot be accomplished in a single generation. "Like previous industrial revolutions, it will not be achieved in one or two years, or even by a single generation."

It is possible that Geely's Jiyue Automobile will be the first to market Baidu Apollo's intelligent driving technology. In Robin Li's words, the purpose of Jiyue's existence is to promptly promote Baidu's years of autonomous driving and intelligent cockpit technology to the market.

In other words, Luobo Kuaipao represents Baidu's cutting-edge exploration in L4 autonomous driving, while Jiyue carries the responsibility of bringing Baidu's autonomous driving accumulations to the market and establishing Baidu's gold standard in the automotive market.

Jiyue's leadership in multiple intelligent driving competitions this year supports this. In the second China Intelligent Driving Competition this year, Jiyue 01 won 4 championships and 1 runner-up in the total of 8 city NOA competitions, ranking among the top three models along with AITO and XPeng.

Recently, the German automotive consulting firm P3 conducted a survey specifically on 12 high-end intelligent driving models available in the Chinese market. According to P3's ranking, AITO M9 ranked first, XPeng X9 ranked second, and Jiyue 01 came in second. Jiyue 01 is the only model among the top three that adopts a pure vision-based intelligent driving approach.

German P3 report: Jiyue 01 ranks second

This year, an increasing number of domestic automakers have begun to develop pure vision and end-to-end intelligent driving routes, attempting to abandon LiDAR. This supports Xia Yiping's judgment from March this year. When Jiyue was the first to implement OCC occupancy network in March, he said that although there are still two intelligent driving technology routes in the industry, everyone may eventually converge on the same path in the future, namely the pure vision approach.

Unlike previous technology routes, pure vision routes no longer compete solely on vehicle hardware but also test cloud computing power. With Baidu's support, Jiyue has an advantage in computing power.

According to previously disclosed data from Baidu, Baidu Apollo's cloud computing power currently exceeds 5.5 EFlops. Wang Liang, Chief R&D Architect of Baidu IDG and Chairman of the IDG Technology Committee, said that Baidu has no cap on its support for Jiyue's intelligent driving computing power. In contrast, Huawei disclosed 3.5 EFlops in June, while XPeng and NIO disclosed 0.6 EFlops and 1.4 EFlops, respectively.

The leadership in intelligent driving is increasingly recognized by consumers. In October this year, Jiyue delivered 3,107 vehicles, achieving exponential growth for four consecutive months, a six-fold increase from June. At the recently opened Guangzhou Auto Show, Jiyue announced that it will officially roll out its pure vision "mapless" intelligent driving feature to nationwide users by the end of the year. Among domestic automakers betting on the pure vision route, Jiyue is the first to announce the complete removal of high-precision maps and LiDAR.

Exponential growth in Jiyue's deliveries over the past five months

At this year's Baidu World Conference, Robin Li proclaimed the slogan "In the AI era, applications create the world," which can be seen as an upgraded expression of last year's "Teaching you step-by-step to create AI-native applications."

Robin Li was one of the first to emphasize the application value of large models. As early as March last year, when ERNIE Bot was first released, he called for a shift from modeling competition to application competition. At that time, no one understood, but now more people see the value of applications.

Seven months later, the ERNIE Bot large model was first launched on the Jiyue 01. This is the world's first smart car to "embark" with a large model and the best annotation of the AI application era.

As Robin Li previously emphasized, Jiyue Automobile is "the culmination of Baidu's AI." In the future, the Baidu World Conference may also be directly held on Jiyue vehicles, effectively showcasing the value of AI applications through intelligent driving and large models.

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