Baidu recently released its fourth quarter and full-year financial reports for 2024. Data shows that its fourth quarter revenue was 34.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2%; the total annual revenue was 133.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1%. Despite the decline in overall revenue, Baidu's net profit performance remained steady. The net profit attributable to Baidu in the fourth quarter was 5.2 billion yuan, and the annual net profit reached 23.8 billion yuan. It is worth noting that Baidu's performance in the field of artificial intelligence is particularly impressive and has become an important engine for its business growth.
In its financial report, Baidu particularly emphasized the strong growth of its artificial intelligence business. In December 2024, the average daily call volume of Baidu Wenxin big model reached 1.65 billion times, a 33-fold increase from the same period in 2023. This data not only reflects Baidu's leading position in the field of AI technology, but also reflects the market's wide recognition and strong demand for its AI solutions. The wide application of Wenxin big model has laid a solid foundation for Baidu's continuous innovation in the field of artificial intelligence.
In addition, Baidu's smart cloud business has also shown strong growth momentum. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Baidu Smart Cloud's revenue increased by 26% year-on-year, becoming one of the important driving forces to drive the company's overall performance growth. The rapid development of smart cloud business not only brought considerable revenue to Baidu, but also further consolidated its competitiveness in the cloud computing market.
After the release of the financial report, Baidu founder, Chairman and CEO Robin Li said: "2024 is a critical year for Baidu to shift from Internet-centered to artificial intelligence first. As full-stack AI technology is widely recognized by the market, the growth trend of smart cloud is becoming stronger. In the mobile ecosystem, we continue to promote the native AI reconstruction of search to improve user experience. We believe that AI-related investment will bring greater results in 2025." Robin Li's speech further clarified Baidu's strategic direction in the field of artificial intelligence.
Looking ahead, Baidu will continue to increase its investment in the field of artificial intelligence and promote the continuous upgrading and optimization of core technologies such as Wenxin big models. At the same time, Baidu will also actively explore new business models and growth points to cope with the challenges brought by market changes and industry competition. Through continuous innovation and optimization, Baidu is expected to make greater breakthroughs in the field of AI.
It is worth mentioning that Baidu recently announced that it will launch the Wenxin Mockup 4.5 series in the next few months, and plans to officially open source from June 30. In addition, Wen Xin Yiyan will be fully open to all PC and APP users for free from April 1. These measures will not only further enhance Baidu's competitiveness in the field of AI, but will also provide users with more convenient and efficient intelligent services and promote the popularization and application of artificial intelligence technology.