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Baidu Says Homegrown Tech Shields AI Ambitions from U.S. Chip Curbs

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Chinese tech giant Baidu asserted on Wednesday that its artificial intelligence (AI) development remains largely insulated from recent U.S. semiconductor export restrictions, thanks to an expanding domestic supply of chips and software. The company also reported stronger-than-expected Q1 financial results, fueled by growth in its AI cloud segment.

“Domestically developed chips and increasingly efficient homegrown software will form a strong foundation for long-term innovation in China’s AI ecosystem,” said Shen Dou, Baidu’s Vice President, during a conference call with analysts.

The statement follows the latest U.S. curbs on advanced chips — including Nvidia’s H20, a product tailored for the Chinese market — which officially took effect last month. Baidu’s confidence mirrors that of rival Tencent, which recently cited existing chip stockpiles as a buffer against Washington’s tightening export controls.

Baidu’s first-quarter revenue rose 3% year-over-year to 32.45 billion yuan ($4.5 billion), surpassing analysts’ estimates of 30.9 billion yuan, according to LSEG. The company’s non-online marketing revenue, primarily driven by its AI cloud business, jumped 40% to 9.4 billion yuan, highlighting Baidu’s accelerating pivot away from its legacy ad-based search engine model.

While revenue from its online marketing segment fell 6% to 17.31 billion yuan — slightly below forecasts — Baidu posted a robust profit of 21.59 yuan per American Depositary Share, up from 14.91 yuan a year earlier.

Baidu has made aggressive moves in the generative AI space since becoming one of the first Chinese firms to launch a ChatGPT-style chatbot in early 2023. However, its flagship Ernie model now faces stiff competition from fast-rising domestic players like DeepSeek.

In response, Baidu scrapped subscription fees for premium AI chatbot services in April and launched enhanced models including Ernie X1 and Ernie 4.5, later upgrading both to “Turbo” versions. The company’s AI ambitions are powered by its self-developed P800 Kunlun chips, with a 30,000-chip cluster said to be capable of training DeepSeek-scale models.

Despite the upbeat earnings and AI momentum, Baidu’s U.S.-listed shares were slightly down 0.3% in Wednesday morning trading.

Andreessen Horowitz-Backed AI Studio Promise Partners with Google, Expands Investor Base

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Generative AI content studio Promise, backed by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, announced a strategic partnership with Google to integrate its cutting-edge AI technologies into the studio’s production tools and creative pipeline.

Promise will leverage Google’s AI capabilities, including collaboration with researchers from DeepMind, to enhance its proprietary workflow software MUSE — a platform aimed at streamlining content production for the entertainment industry.

The studio also revealed it has broadened its investor pool. New funding comes from Google’s AI Futures Fund, Crossbeam Venture Partners, and an increased investment from North Road Company, the media firm founded by former News Corp President Peter Chernin, who is also a co-lead investor.

Promise was co-founded by Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos, former YouTube executive Jamie Byrne, and AI artist Dave Clark. The startup aims to position itself at the forefront of the generative AI boom in entertainment, offering tools to reduce production costs and accelerate timelines for content development.

The company is already working with Hollywood partners on a multi-year slate of AI-driven projects. Production for Promise’s first feature-length film is set to begin later this year, marking a major step in its ambition to reshape storytelling with generative AI.

As traditional studios continue to explore the role of AI in filmmaking, Promise’s alliance with Google could set a precedent for deeper integration of AI into Hollywood’s creative and technical ecosystems.

FBI Warns AI-Generated Voices Used to Impersonate Senior U.S. Officials in Cyber Campaign

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The FBI has issued a public warning that malicious actors are leveraging AI-generated voice messages and text to impersonate senior U.S. government officials, targeting both current and former federal and state officials in a sophisticated social engineering campaign.

According to the FBI’s announcement on Thursday, the aim of the scheme is to:

  • Gain access to personal accounts of government officials

  • Target additional contacts once access is gained

  • Harvest sensitive information or even solicit funds fraudulently

How the Scheme Works:

  • Attackers initiate text message conversations to build rapport with the targets.

  • Once trust is established, they urge the recipient to switch to another platform, often linking to a hacker-controlled website designed to harvest credentials like usernames and passwords.

  • In some cases, attackers use AI-generated voice clips to convincingly impersonate the tone and mannerisms of known officials.

Threat Scope:

The FBI has not disclosed how many individuals have been targeted or whether the actors are financially motivated cybercriminals or state-aligned entities. The use of generative AI makes attribution and detection more difficult, and the agency continues to assess the full scope of the threat.

This follows a December 2024 warning from the FBI regarding the broader use of AI-generated content — including text, audio, images, and video — to commit crimes such as fraud, extortion, and identity theft.

Broader Implications:

The campaign underscores the growing threat of generative AI in cybercrime, particularly in impersonation and phishing-style attacks aimed at high-value targets. Government agencies and private sector organizations are now being urged to:

  • Strengthen multi-factor authentication

  • Train personnel to recognize AI-driven impersonation attempts

  • Avoid clicking on unsolicited links or moving conversations to unknown platforms

As AI tools become more accessible, security experts warn that digital impersonation will become an increasingly common tactic for attackers seeking access to sensitive systems or socially engineered pathways into secure environments.