Baidu hitches its 2017 rebound hopes to AI

Baidu Inc, the Chinese internet search leader, said it is expecting a sales rebound in the first quarter of 2017 on the back of new revenue drivers like artificial intelligence, after a web advertising scandal last year crushed quarterly earnings twice in a row.

The company announced its fiscal 2016 results on Friday. Its operating profit dropped almost 14 percent year-on-year to 10.04 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) on a revenue of 70.5 billion yuan, up 6.3 percent.

Fourth-quarter revenue dropped 2.6 percent year-on-year to 18.21 billion yuan.