China's Baidu is shrugging off US chip export restrictions
It’s been a tough year for tech companies. The S&P China Tech 50 Index is down nearly 36% this year. The Nasdaq-100 Technology Sector Index is down by almost the identical percentage.
In an earnings call yesterday (Nov. 22), Robin Li, Baidu’s CEO, said that his company’s cloud computing and artificial intelligence business “[do] not rely too much on the high advanced chips.”
Where such chips are needed, Baidu can tap its stockpile of supplies in the near term, turn to alternatives that offer “almost the same effectiveness and efficiency” in the medium term, and develop its own AI chip in the longer term, Li said. He added that Baidu’s autonomous vehicle development won’t be disrupted, because vehicle chips aren’t currently included under US export restrictions.
The US chip restrictions have even “increased some good market opportunities for the Chinese chip companies and...our AI business will eventually benefit from these opportunities,” Li said.