Men interact with a Baidu AI robot near the company logo at its headquarters in Beijing, China April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo
Aug 24 (Reuters) – Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc (9888.HK) said on Tuesday its artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistant Xiaodu Technology has closed Series B financing at a $5.1 billion valuation.
This comes in the midst of a regulatory crackdown on the tech industry by the Chinese authorities that has led to an upheaval in many sectors including as e-commerce, ride-hailing and cryptocurrency. read more
Xiaodu is the developer of DuerOS, a voice assistant system based on AI that supports television, speakers and other smart home appliances. It completed its Series A funding in November 2020 at a post-money valuation of $2.9 billion, said Baidu.
Earlier in March, Baidu said that its AI chip unit Kunlun also completed a round of fundraising, which according to one source with direct knowledge of the matter valued the business at about $2 billion. (https://reut.rs/3D9Xcbo)
Baidu said on Tuesday that after the transaction it would remain a majority shareholder.
Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich
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