Baidu prepares smart AI glasses for rival Ray-Bans from Meta
Baidu Inc. is set to unveil a pair of glasses with a built-in AI assistant, making it a Chinese rival to the Meta Ray-Bans, which have proven a rare success in AI-powered hardware.
The Chinese search leader and longtime investor in artificial intelligence (AI) plans to showcase the product at its annual Baidu World event in Shanghai next week, according to a person familiar with the schedule. The gadget will have built-in cameras to capture photos and videos and will support voice interactions built on top of Baidu’s Ernie base model, said the person, who asked not to be named because the glasses are not yet public.
The drive to monetize AI has found expression this year in a series of hardware introductions, from the Humane Ai Pin flop to Microsoft Corp.’s better-received Copilot+ PC series. Meta Platforms Inc.’s smart glasses, designed in collaboration with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica SA, are an older product that has grown in features, capabilities and popularity this year. Meta said demand has exceeded the ability to supply new units and EssilorLuxottica has singled them out as a product that drives new sales.
Beijing-based Baidu is also working to capitalize on more than a decade of AI development, and its smart glasses will connect to a range of products such as Baidu Maps and its online encyclopedia Baike. Sales of the product, which is likely to cost less than Meta’s $299 (approximately Rs. 25,230), could start as early as early 2025, the person said.
A Baidu spokesperson did not respond to an email request.
The AI glasses were developed by Baidu’s hardware division, Xiaodu, which raised funding from investors including IDG Capital in 2020 at a valuation of $2.9 billion (approximately Rs. 24,468 crore). Key products include voice-activated speakers and wireless earbuds that also connect to Baidu’s content ecosystem.
Despite a head start in China’s ChatGPT-inspired AI frenzy, Baidu has struggled to maintain its leadership. TikTok owner ByteDance’s Doubao has taken over the position of China’s most popular AI chatbot in recent months, dropping Ernie Bot in the rankings. Baidu executives have also warned that serving AI-generated results in the company’s core search business will be negative for ad revenue in the short term.
A slew of Chinese upstart hardware makers have already introduced AI glasses with cameras and open-ear audio, while others have focused on more limited functionality like translation and pathfinding. Across the Pacific, Apple Inc. is investigating. a boost in this category with an internal survey of products currently available on the market, Bloomberg News reports.
© 2024 BloombergLP
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
