A transformation in AI applications has reached a critical inflection point.
According to information obtained by Wall Street News from informed sources, Baidu recently officially announced the establishment of a Personal Super Intelligence Business Group (PSIG). Sources close to Baidu revealed that PSIG will integrate core AI application assets such as Baidu Netdisk and Baidu Wenku, and will be led by Vice President Wang Ying, reporting directly to CEO Robin Li.
Baidu Netdisk and Baidu Wenku were originally part of the Mobile Ecosystem Business Group (MEG), which means that in addition to MEG, the Intelligent Cloud Business Group (ACG), and the Intelligent Driving Business Group (IDG), Baidu now has another major business unit. Sources close to the company indicated that Netdisk and Wenku are currently showing positive overall trends and have garnered significant attention from Robin Li. From a management perspective, Wenku and Netdisk had already been consolidated under Wang Ying's leadership.
In the past, AI applications within Baidu's portfolio were often viewed as "showrooms" to demonstrate technical prowess to the capital markets, and there were lingering doubts about when these technologies could be translated into substantial, scaled revenue. Baidu's sweeping organizational adjustment clearly signals higher expectations for the market potential of its AI applications going forward.
In a sense, PSIG is poised to become an independent strategic pillar supporting Baidu's next decade. It represents Baidu's direct answer to the question of how AI will be transformed into productive force and reflected in its financial reports.
By merging Netdisk (personal asset management) with Wenku (intelligent content creation), Baidu aims to address the growth limitations of its standalone search tool and leverage its strengths in processing data from its massive existing user base.
Of course, in this trillion-yuan AI race, Baidu faces no shortage of competitors. ByteDance's Doubao has already formed a formidable presence in consumer-facing entry points; Alibaba's Tongyi series is making deep inroads in office scenarios; and Tencent's Yuanbao, backed by its powerful social ecosystem, is determined to capture the high ground in large model applications by 2026.
An industry insider told Wall Street News that the positioning of AI applications is to complement traditional search. While the advantages of search are well-established, "in case the underlying logic of traffic undergoes a complete upheaval, you absolutely must have a powerful application entry point; you cannot afford to be at the mercy of competitors."
Furthermore, the demand for AI-driven productivity growth presents a new opportunity for Baidu. Computing power is not just a major cost center but also an "efficiency engine." In an environment where traditional search advertising is under pressure, the stability of pure traffic distribution is weakening, even facing growth bottlenecks. In contrast, the AI processing capabilities based on Wenku and Netdisk offer commercial value far superior to traditional keyword clicks.
Simultaneously, user expectations for AI assistants demand "instant feedback." The highly sticky nature of Baidu's PSIG allows it to capture user demand the very moment it arises—"connecting in that split second"—ensuring that user assets do not migrate to competing platforms.
Although the full productive capacity of Baidu's PSIG has not yet been unleashed, products like Baidu Wenku under its umbrella have already demonstrated strong commercial potential. Baidu Wenku currently boasts over 1.8 billion authoritative professional documents, with AI monthly active users exceeding 97 million; Baidu Netdisk serves over 1 billion users, with AI monthly active users surpassing 80 million.
This is a silent siege. Everyone is betting that 2026 will be the "industrialization元年" for native AI applications. Whoever can first seamlessly integrate user experience with a viable business model will hold the ticket to the next decade.
William Xiong, China Internet Analyst at UBS Securities, believes that by 2026, the application side should see a gradual enrichment of overall AI application scenarios. Scenarios will become more diverse, and from a commercialization perspective, there is an opportunity for further acceleration.
From a current viewpoint, the core driver of the next upcycle for the internet industry is AI applications. For applications to truly explode, they must deliver an极致 experience. When traffic costs rebound, only "super intelligence" can act as that "growth stabilizer." This urgency, coupled with the pressing need to transform its revenue structure, is driving Baidu to demonstrate its commitment to AI transformation to more users and investors at this juncture.
Over the past decade, search advertising was the undisputed king. Its fluctuations dictated the rise and fall of a market cap worth hundreds of billions. However, Baidu's establishment of PSIG under the direct leadership of Wang Ying is also a proactive adjustment in the face of epochal change.
As user acceptance of AI assistants increases, the "dangerous leap" from testing demos to scaled commercial products is only a matter of time.
This implies that competition in the internet space post-2026 will no longer be a single-dimensional battle for traffic, but will evolve towards an ecosystem characterized by the coexistence of algorithms, data, and diverse scenarios—a more resilient commercial system. Within this system, growth will be less prone to失控, and valuations will be less fragile.
By using native AI applications to mitigate the scarcity of traffic红利, and using the certainty of organizational restructuring to hedge against the uncertainty of future disruptions, major internet players are deploying their respective strategies to navigate the AI transformation.
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