China's Baidu Credits Artificial Intelligence for Robust Ad Sales

The Beijing-based company blew past analysts' estimates Tuesday, reporting a record $3.93 billion in revenue for the quarter ended June 30, up 32% over the year-earlier period. Net income soared 45% to 6.4 billion yuan ($967 million). Baidu, which sells advertising linked to web searches, news feeds and other content, credited the robust quarter to improvements in its mobile app, which uses AI to tailor its offerings to users based on their viewing habits and search history. The app notched 148 million daily active users in June, up 17% from a year ago. That helped boost online ad sales, its biggest source of revenue, by 25% to 21.1 billion yuan in the second quarter from a year earlier.