Baidu's Li supports efforts to find cure for esophageal cancer

Big data technology and artificial intelligence are being combined to help find a cure for an aggressive form of cancer, thanks to funding from Robin Li, the co-founder of China's online search giant Baidu Inc.

The Beijing-based firm said Li is donating up to 30 million yuan ($4.72 million) to support a research to identify the gene which causes cancer of the esophagus - the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach.

Baidu and Peking Union Medical College will use the donation to launch joint research into the condition.