Baidu's 2018 business revenue tops 100 bln yuan

Baidu chairman and CEO Robin Li speaks during the 2018 Baidu World conference in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. Chinese technology company Baidu announced on Thursday that it is partnering with Swedish carmaker Volvo to develop electric cars with autonomous-driving capabilities.[Photo:AP]

Chinese search engine and artificial intelligence (AI) giant Baidu raked in over 100 billion yuan (14.55 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, the company's CEO announced Wednesday.

Robin Li, also founder of Baidu, called the record-high revenue "a milestone" for the company, indicating the firm's accelerating growth and dedication to serve users, he said in an open letter.

The NASDAQ-listed firm saw its third quarter revenue expand at 27 percent year on year as robust user traffic growth boosted its search and feed revenue. Its AI product DuerOS had been installed on about 141 million devices by the end of last September.

Li said AI is penetrating all sectors and has the potential to help companies weather economic headwind by reducing their costs and upgrading their businesses.

Baidu expected its Q4 revenue to be between 25.48 billion yuan and 26.72 billion yuan, up 15 percent to 20 percent year on year.