"Baidu's Annual Net Income Soars Despite Halving Profits from AI Spending"

Baidu Inc.'s profit dropped 48% due to increased spending on AI development, missing projections with a net income of 2.6 billion yuan. The company's revenue rose 6% as its ChatGPT-style service boosted advertising sales, but its shares slid 2% in New York. Baidu is seeking ways to monetize generative AI and has attracted over 100 million users to its service. The company's pivotal cloud arm revenue grew 11% to 5.7 billion yuan, but research and development costs climbed 11% last quarter. Baidu is vying for a competitive AI market against rivals like Tencent and Alibaba, and its shares have dropped roughly 30% since July in Hong Kong.