Qi Lu, Expert in AI and Former Vice President Of Microsoft Joins Baidu
The Chinese Internet giant that goes by the name of Baidu is the leading search engine company responsible for the Asian giant. On Tuesday, the company announced Qi Lu, former Vice President of Microsoft, as its new Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer.
According to the company announced in a statement, Lu is an expert in the field of Artificial Intelligence and will take over the responsibility for the products, technology, sales, marketing and operations of one of the leading Chinese Internet firms in his new position. Lu will be a step lower in the post hierarchy. Robin Li, who is the founder of the company, retains his position as CEO and Chairman of the board.
A longtime engineer and technology leader, Lu was widely respected at Microsoft, helping to push the company into new areas including artificial intelligence and chatbots. An eight-year Microsoft veteran, he was the top Microsoft executive in charge of Office, Bing and related products before his departure in September.
Robin Li, Baidu's Chairman and Group CEO, said in a statement, "Dr. Lu possesses a wealth of leadership and management experience, and is a leading authority in the area of artificial intelligence. I am confident that Dr. Lu will make major contributions to the overall strength of our management and technology."
The new president of Baidu graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai and pursued a Doctorate in artificial intelligence from the American Carnegie Mellon University. Lu has more than 40 patents registered in the US and has held management positions at Yahoo and Microsoft. At Microsoft, he climbed up the ladder and became Vice President and Chief of the business office since 2013.
"To achieve our goals, especially in artificial intelligence, which will be our strategic focus for the next decade, we will need to continue to attract the best global talent," said Li, who defined Lu as an "authority" on the subject in The newly appointed executive stressed his "excitement" at joining Baidu's "visionary artificial intelligence strategy."