Baidu starts a $3 billion fund to invest in internet startups

This morning, China’s search engine giant Baidu launched Baidu Capital, a $3 billion fund to make investments ranging from $50 million to $100 million in internet startups, reports Reuters. Last month, it started Baidu Venture, a $200 million fund, to invest in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality. The company, which has been hurt by rivals Tencent and Alibaba and reportedly in late July had its biggest quarterly decline in profits in almost eight years, is obviously staking its claim on the post-smartphone era. MB