FILE PHOTO: Qi Lu, vice chairman, group president and COO of Baidu, responds to a question during a panel discussion on 5G wireless broadband technology during the 2018 CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Steve Marcus
The departure of Baidu Inc’s most senior operational executive threatens to derail the Chinese search giant’s ambition of placing artificial intelligence at the heart of its business.
On May 18, the company stunned investors with the revelation that Microsoft Corp veteran Qi Lu – hired just over a year ago to accelerate its drive into everything from autonomous cars to digital assistants – was stepping down because he could no longer work full-time in China for personal reasons.
