In a statement made on Tuesday at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Baidu CEO Robin Li emphasized the continued importance of investing in data centers and cloud infrastructure, despite the cost efficiency challenges posed by DeepSeek to large AI models. According to Li, “The investment in cloud infrastructure is still very much required. In order to come up with models that are smarter than everyone else, you have to use more compute.”
Compute, as defined by Li, refers to the hardware resources that enable AI models to function, facilitating tasks such as data training, information processing, and prediction generation. Li’s remarks come at a time when Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has garnered global recognition for developing language models that rival the performance of leading systems like OpenAI’s GPT, all while requiring significantly less computing power. This has raised questions about the necessity of substantial AI infrastructure investments.
Despite being an early player in the field with the launch of AI products following OpenAI’s ChatGPT release in late 2022, Baidu’s large language model Ernie, which the company claims matches the capabilities of GPT-4, has seen limited public adoption. Li, known for making bold statements about China’s AI landscape, has previously expressed skepticism about the emergence of another OpenAI-like entity in China. He has also advocated for closed-source models as the primary path for AI development.
However, at the summit, Li acknowledged the unpredictable nature of innovation, highlighted by DeepSeek’s sudden emergence. He stated, “You just don’t know when and where innovations come from.” Li also recognized that compute limitations have prompted Chinese firms to innovate in cost reduction strategies.
Moreover, Li appeared to adjust his stance on closed-source development, now recognizing that open-source approaches could accelerate the adoption of AI technology. He stated, “If you open things up, a lot of people will be curious enough to try it. This will help spread the technology much faster.”
(This story has been corrected to remove a reference to U.S. chip sanctions in Li’s remarks about innovation drivers, in paragraph 9)
(Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Michael Perry)
