Baidu’s bosses appear to recognise as much. The firm is rapidly diversifying. Last November it agreed to buy YY Live, a video-sharing and live-streaming app, for $3.6bn, in a bid to boost its presence in online entertainment and compete with the likes of Kuaishou. Baidu is also investing heavily in cloud services to keep up with Alibaba and Tencent, two bigger Chinese tech rivals. But arguably the boldest push is what the company calls “intelligent driving”.
百度的老板们似乎也认识到了这一点。这家公司随即迅速多样化发展。去年11月，百度同意斥资36亿美元收购视频分享和流媒体直播应用YY直播，以提升其在在线娱乐领域的影响力，并与快手等同类型公司展开竞争。百度还在云服务方面投入巨资，以赶上中国两大科技竞争对手阿里巴巴和腾讯。但百度所谓的“智能驾驶”可以说是它最大胆的攻势了。
This business contributes hardly any revenues today but holds “huge long-term monetisation potential”, according to Baidu’s new prospectus. The business has three prongs. The first is the establishment of a nationwide fleet of robotaxis powered by Apollo, Baidu’s in-house self-driving technology. The firm is already operating self-driving taxis in three Chinese cities, including part of Beijing. Rides are currently free but Baidu hints that it may soon start charging. It has international ambitions, too. In January it received permission to test self-driving cars in California.
百度最新的招股书显示，智能驾驶业务目前几乎没有贡献任何营收，但具有“巨大的长期盈利潜力”。百度决定三管齐下开展该业务。首先是在全国范围内组建一支由百度自主研发的自动驾驶技术“阿波罗”驱动的无人驾驶车队。该公司已经在中国三个城市运营自动驾驶出租车，其中包括北京的部分地区。目前乘车是免费的，但百度暗示可能很快就会开始收费。百度也有进军国际的野心。今年1月，百度获准在美国加州测试自动驾驶汽车。
Baidu also plans to mass-produce electric vehicles (EVS). In January it formed a new venture with Geely, a Chinese carmaker, to bring to market “intelligent” (if not fully autonomous) EVS within three years. By 2035 China’s government wants every other new car sold to be an EV. The third prong allows Baidu to earn immediate revenues by selling services to Chinese carmakers, such as high-definition maps and automated-parking technology, which it has already sold to ten firms. Baidu is already a late entrant to China’s crowded personal-mobility industry. For now, at least, investors are on for the ride.
百度还计划大规模生产电动汽车（EVS）。今年1月，百度与中国汽车制造商吉利成立了一家新的合资企业，计划在三年内将“智能”电动汽车（如果未能实现全自动驾驶）推向市场。到2035年，中国政府希望出售的所有新车都是电动汽车。第三方面，百度可以通过向中国汽车制造商出售高清地图和自动泊车技术等服务来赚取即时收入，百度目前已经向10家公司出售了此类服务。在拥挤的中国个人出行领域，百度已然是后来者。至少就目前而言，投资者已经开始行动了。
