Xiaomi and Baidu team up to create an AI+IoT ecosystem

Xiaomi presented its new IoT strategy today announcing its cooperation with Baidu. During Xiaomi’s first IoT Developer Conference since 2015, Baidu’s Chief Operating Officer Lu Qi said that the two companies will cooperate on application scenarios, Xiaomi’s intelligent hardware, big data and smart devices ecosystem in combination with Baidu’s AI technology, big data, intelligent mapping as well as information and service ecology integration.

“Xiaomi and Baidu will work together to build a hardware and software IoT+AI ‘ecosystem,” Lu Qi said. He added that AI will become a new breakthrough point for IoT to develop continuously and it will bring IoT into a new era.

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun said that Xiaomi has become the world’s largest intelligent hardware and IoT platform. Over the last three years, Xiaomi has produced 85 million pieces of IoT equipment, 800 kinds of devices, and cooperated with 400 partners, said Lei. Xiaomi has completed its first stage in IoT and is moving on to the next.

“Three years ago we thought smartphones were the most important, but now AI speakers are more important,” said Lei.

After launching the IoT Developer Program, Xiaomi will “will share the capabilities of the whole system platform,” including open access, control, intelligent scene optimizer, cloud + AI + data solutions and new retail channels. At the same time, Xiaomi will provide a start-up training program, a funding program, a software developer certification scheme, and a developer subsidy program.