Navigating the AI Future

From Baidu's big bet to Baichuan's big pivot. |  |   
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#### Weekly newsletter | March 30th, 2025  
  
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|  **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. To read these stories, gain access to our extensive archive, and opt-in to our popular daily news round up, subscribe to _The Wire_  today. _Was this email forwarded to you?_ Sign up to receive our free newsletter. Click here to view this email in your browser.  
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Baidu Apollo's ride-hailing service, Apollo Go, in Shenzhen's Nanshan District. _Credit:  Baidu, Inc._  
|  **Baidu's Big Bet** Can Baidu’s longstanding investment in AI — especially autonomous vehicles — drive its future? Yi Liu reports.  
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Wang Xiaochuan, founder of Baichuan AI, speaks during the 2024 Inclusion Conference on the Bund in Shanghai, September 5, 2024. _Credit: Xu Kangping/VCG via  AP Images_  
|  **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.   
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### **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_  
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Local government officials attend the 19th Weishan County People's Congress, in Weishan, Shandong, China, January 5, 2025. _Credit:  Weishan County People's Government_  
|  **‘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.  
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China's Premier Li Qiang delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum at the Diaoyutai Guesthouse in Beijing, March 23, 2025. _Credit: Adek Berry/Pool Photo via  AP Images_  
|  **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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