Baidu shaking up its medical business with emphasis on AI

Robin Li, chairman and chief executive office of Baidu Inc, speaks in Wuzhen town of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, December 17, 2015. [Photo / Agencies]

Li said there are four phases related to the "Internet Plus health and medical treatment", which includes registration and reservation services, intelligent diagnosis and treatment, gene analysis and precision medicine, as well as new drug R&D.

As the age of AI is approaching, the healthcare industry will be redefined, said Li.

Baidu's mobile medical business unit was established in January 2015. It was mainly involved in online registration, reservation and consultation services by cooperating with hospitals. Its products include Baidu Doctor.

Zhang Yidan, an analyst at internet consultancy Analysys, said: "Baidu's medical unit lags behind its rivals, online medical platforms that connect doctors and patients, such as Chunyu Doctor and haodf.com."

Zhang said AI technology is expected to be applied to its online patient diagnosis, which could ease the shortage of doctors and strained relations between doctors and patients.

"However, it just plays an auxiliary role and could not replace the face-to-face diagnosis service offered by traditional hospitals."

In January, Baidu appointed former Microsoft Corp executive Lu Qi as its president and chief operating officer, a major push to help the company develop in artificial intelligence.