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Baidu to Fold Embattled Medical Business Into AI, Search Units

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Baidu to Fold Embattled Medical Business Into AI, Search Units

Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc will close some of its medical businesses and fold other health segments into its artificial intelligence and search teams, the firm said in a statement sent to Reuters on Thursday.

Baidu has been refocusing its business strategy after Chinese authorities cracked down last year on medical advertising, once a lucrative business sector for the firm, which led to a steep drop in sales in the latter half of 2016.

The firm, China’s answer to Alphabet Inc’s Google, was at the centre of a national media outcry last year when a student with a fatal cancer blamed Baidu averts for directing him to suspect, ultimately ineffectual treatment.

Regulators responded by slapping curbs on the firm’s healthcare advertising business.

Baidu said parts of the medical team would be integrated into the artificial intelligence and search engine teams.

“Other health business units will be shut down and their staff will be offered other roles internally in line with the demands of the company’s development,” the firm said.

The artificial intelligence teams would look to develop applications that could be used in the medical field. These could include areas such as drug development and testing, gene sequencing and patient diagnosis.

“The most important force that could change the medical field is artificial intelligence”, Baidu CEO Robin Li said.

In January, Baidu appointed former Microsoft Corp executive Qi Lu as chief operating officer, part of the broader push into artificial intelligence as a new driver for growth.

[Source:- gadgets.ndtv]

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Internet

China’s Baidu Takes on Amazon Echo With ‘Little Fish’ of Its Own

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

China's Baidu Takes on Amazon Echo With 'Little Fish' of Its Own

Chinese Internet colossus Baidu is out to make a splash with ‘Little Fish,’ a family robot that is a voice-controlled virtual valet akin to Amazon Echo or Google Home.

Baidu showed off “Little Fish,” a translation of its Chinese name “Xiaoyu Zaijia,” on Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas ahead of its release in China later this year.

“I think 2017 will be the year of conversational computing,” Baidu chief scientist Andrew Ng said while demonstrating Little Fish for AFP behind closed doors at the show.

“We see a clear path of conversational computers changing everything.”

Using voice to interact with computers that are able to essentially learn from experience was among the hot trends at CES. Arrays of device makers added digital aide capabilities with the help of Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant technology.

Unlike “faceless” Amazon Alexa or Google Home devices that rely on people asking for information or controlling devices by speaking, Little Fish also features a touch-screen on top of its orb-shaped base.

A camera on top tracks faces, and the screen swivels to keep facing a speaker.

“Speech is the fastest way for you to communicate with a computer, but a screen is a very fast way for a machine to communicate back to you,” Ng said.

For example, it would be quicker to glance at a requested list of top restaurants from Yelp than it would be to listen to the computer read all the names and descriptions, he said.

Transformative
Little Fish uses Baidu’s operating system DuerOS, which is already employed by other devices in China, such as set-top TV boxes that can switch channels by voice command or figure out names of actors on screen when asked.

The bigger vision is to build DuerOS into a broad range of gadgets that tap into Baidu’s Internet capabilities for search, food delivery, online commerce and more.

“If this takes off, I am not worried about how we will make money,” Ng said when asked about revenue plans.

“It will transform how you use devices in your home. There are plenty of business models.”

Little Fish, a second-generation device, will be released in China at a price yet to be disclosed, according to Baidu.

Baidu partnered with hardware firm Ainemo to build it.

“We believe family robots will be the next big category that will be a member of everybody’s home,” Ainemo chief executive and founder Chenfeng Song said in a release.

AI taking hold
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is getting a foothold in homes, with developers feverishly adding “skills” to Amazon Echo speakers infused with Alexa.

Google, meanwhile, is using its AI prowess in Android smartphones, messaging software, and a vase-sized Home digital assistant.

The home hubs, sometimes referred to as smart speakers, fetch content or answers from the internet, and can act as remote controls for other devices in houses.

“We are moving technologies beyond the smartphone,” said Shawn DuBravac, chief economist at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) that organizes CES.

“Ultimately, vocal computing is replacing the (screen).”

Chinese tech giant Huawei said at CES that it is adding Amazon’s Alexa to its flagship smartphone for its US launch.

China-based Lenovo announced it was launching a smart home assistant powered by Alexa, joining the growing roster of contenders in the market for voice-activated devices.

“In the smart home, voice is clearly important,” DuBravac said.

“We are seeing that play out at CES.”

He expected voice technology to quickly improve, within years perhaps even being able to recognize speakers so accurately it could be used for biometric security, or simple parental override of Internet use by offspring.

“I know that in my home with my boys, I would like Alexa to recognize my voice as the ruler of the coop,” DuBravac quipped.

While digital assistant technology is being built into televisions, appliances and more, hub devices such as Alexa will be key to voice-controlled computing, according to the economist.

NPD analyst Ben Arnold said at CES that he is “bullish on everything voice and AI,” with the technologies eventually “pollenating” devices so thoroughly they essentially become home operating systems.

[Source:- gadgets.ndtv]

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Tech Update

Baidu CEO tells staff to put values before profit after cancer death scandal

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Baidu Inc’s CEO has called on employees to put values before profit in response to a scandal around the death of a student who underwent an experimental cancer treatment he found on the company’s search website.

Before his death, student Wei Zexi, 21, criticized the military-run hospital that provided the failed treatment for misleading claims about its effectiveness and accused Baidu, which controls 80 percent of the Chinese search market, of promoting false medical information.

In a letter to employees seen by Reuters, Baidu chief executive Robin Li wrote: “If we lose the support of users, we lose hold of our values, and Baidu will truly go bankrupt in just 30 days!”

Li’s letter said employees were making compromises for the sake of commercial interests and placing earnings growth above user experience.

The controversy over Wei’s death, which erupted at the beginning of the month, prompted regulators on Monday to impose curbs on the advertising business Baidu relies on for the lion’s share of its income.

Baidu said on Monday it would comply with the regulators’ decision, which followed a probe launched early last week.

The company will re-evaluate every one of its products’ business models, despite the fact it may have a negative impact on the company’s income, Li wrote.

The Chinese internet stalwart has been fiercely criticized both online and by state media for how it handles adverts within its search results, especially in the sensitive healthcare sector.

“These days, whenever it’s the dead of night, I think: Why do the people who use Baidu’s products no longer love us?” Li wrote.

“The outrage is greater than in any crisis Baidu has experienced before.”

It is not the first time the company has fallen foul of regulators and public opinion for its handling of healthcare ads and blogs, and has previously changed elements of its business model in response.

“I believe this is the right way!” said Li in his letter. “It’s the long-term way!”

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