Good evening. What’s Baidu been up to lately? If you’ve been a China watcher since the days of the “BAT” triumvirate (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), you might have noticed that the former tech titan is not exactly holding the same spot in China’s economy as it used to. Our cover story this week looks at Baidu’s best hope for a comeback.
Elsewhere, we have an interview with Jeremy Daum about how Beijing is controlling China’s AI industry; infographics about the big pivot by Baichuan, one of China’s AI tigers; an op-ed on why China’s local governments are resorting to extortion; and an op-ed on why China is not undergoing Japanification. If you’re not already a paid subscriber to The Wire, please sign up here.
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Baidu’s Big Bet
Can Baidu’s longstanding investment in AI — especially autonomous vehicles — drive its future? Yi Liu reports.
The Big Picture: Baichuan’s Big Pivot
One of China’s so-called AI tigers has made big changes to its leadership and strategy this year. This week’s Big Picture by Noah Berman looks at how the company is navigating the AI industry’s rapid shifts.
A Q&A with Jeremy Daum
For more than a decade, Jeremy Daum, a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School, has been a contributing editor at China Law Translate, a website he founded that hosts open-source English translations and analysis of Chinese laws. China Law Translate aims to expand accessibility and understanding of the Chinese legal system. Before the pandemic, Daum was based for many years in China, but has since returned to the United States. As part of his work, he has examined a wide variety of laws and regulations in China, including those pertaining to artificial intelligence. In this week’s interview with Evan Peng, he compares the U.S. and Chinese approach to regulating artificial intelligence, data privacy in China and the future of TikTok.
Jeremy Daum
Illustration by Kate Copeland
‘Deep-Sea Fishing’: Why China’s Local Governments Are Resorting to Extortion
Business confidence, argues John Fitzgerald in this week’s op-ed, can only truly return in China when Beijing addresses the perverse incentives that prevail within the system.
China is Not Undergoing Japanification
Comparing the China of today with the Japan of the 1990s won’t help fix the Chinese economy’s problems, argues Paul Cavey in this op-ed.
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