Baidu Reports Q1 2026 Results with AI Business Surpassing Half of Core Revenue

Baidu announced in a press release its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2026, reporting that its Core AI powered business contributed more than half of Baidu Core revenue for the first time. Revenue from this segment reached RMB 13.6 billion, a 49 percent increase year over year, while total Baidu Core revenue grew 2 percent.

Revenue from Baidu’s AI Cloud Infra business rose 79 percent year over year to RMB 8.8 billion, driven by growing enterprise demand. AI Applications revenue was RMB 2.5 billion, roughly unchanged from the previous year. Revenue from AI native marketing services reached RMB 2.3 billion, up 36 percent year over year.

Baidu reported a non-GAAP operating income of RMB 4.0 billion for its General Business, a 39 percent increase from the previous quarter. Operating cash flow remained positive at RMB 2.7 billion. The company returned approximately US$172 million to shareholders through share repurchases during the quarter.

Operationally, Apollo Go delivered 3.2 million fully driverless rides in Q1 with weekly rides peaking above 350,000 in March. As of May 2026, Apollo Go operates in 27 cities worldwide. Baidu also launched ERNIE 5.1 in May 2026, which features stronger text and reasoning capabilities in a more compact model size.