Baidu Q2 revenue falls 4% as GPU Cloud sales jump 283%

Baidu's second-quarter revenue fell to RMB 31.3 billion ($4.62 billion), down 4% from a year earlier, according to the company's earnings release. Baidu General Business, the biggest slice, was also down 4% to RMB 25.2 billion.

Inside that shrinking top line, the AI Cloud Infra unit brought in RMB 7.3 billion, up 50% year over year. GPU Cloud grew 283% year over year, accelerating from 184% in the prior quarter.

"AI Cloud Infra sustained strong momentum this quarter, with GPU Cloud growth accelerating further off an already high base," said co-founder and CEO Robin Li.

CFO Haijian He said Baidu Core AI-powered Business reached RMB 12.5 billion and "continued to account for half of Baidu General Business revenue." That segment grew 25% year over year. Outside of it, AI Applications rose 3% to RMB 2.5 billion and AI-native Marketing Services were roughly flat at RMB 2.6 billion.

Operating income was RMB 3.0 billion, a 10% margin. Net income was RMB 2.3 billion. The company reported RMB 283.1 billion ($41.72 billion) in cash and investments, and 644 million monthly active users on the Baidu App. Apollo Go, the robotaxi arm, has expanded to 28 cities and logged more than 350 million autonomous kilometers, over 240 million of them fully driverless. Baidu has been steadily extending the service, including London tests with Lyft and Freenow last month.

He also said the company is "moving forward with our conversion to a dual-primary listing in Hong Kong and expect it to become effective within this year," subject to shareholder and Hong Kong Stock Exchange approval.

The release does not disclose the absolute size of GPU Cloud inside the RMB 7.3 billion AI Cloud Infra segment, nor does it name the customers driving the surge. It is our 14th Baidu update in the last 90 days.