Robin Li
Also known as 李彦宏
Robin Li is Baidu's co-founder and CEO, and he guides its shift from search into AI products. He earned an information-management degree at Peking University and a computer-science master's at the University at Buffalo before developing RankDex, a link-analysis search system. Li co-founded Baidu in 2000, and the company grew from a Chinese search business into an AI-first company. Baidu introduced ERNIE Bot in 2023, and TIME named Li to its 100 Most Influential People in AI list in 2023. Baidu released ERNIE 5.0 in January 2026; as of August 2026, Li is its co-founder and CEO.
- Now at
- Baidu
Timeline
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1991–1994
Peking and Buffalo degrees
He earns a bachelor's degree in information management at Peking University in 1991 and a computer-science master's at the University at Buffalo in 1994.
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1994–1999
Creating RankDex
He joins IDD Information Services in 1994 and develops RankDex there in 1996, a search system that ranks websites by incoming links. He moves to Infoseek as a staff engineer from July 1997 to December 1999.
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2000–2005
Co-founding Baidu
Li co-founds Baidu with Eric Xu in 2000 and becomes CEO in 2004. Baidu lists on NASDAQ in August 2005 after building a Chinese-language search service.
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2020
Planning AI infrastructure
At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in 2020, he outlines a New Infrastructure plan that uses Baidu's open-source AI platforms to support adoption across industries.
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2023
Introducing ERNIE Bot
At Baidu's March 2023 press conference, he presents ERNIE Bot demos. TIME names him to its 100 Most Influential People in AI list in 2023.
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2024–2025
Shifting Baidu toward AI
He calls 2024 a pivotal year in Baidu's shift from internet-centric to AI-first business and expects the company's AI investments to deliver more in 2025.
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Since 2004
Baidu CEO and ERNIE 5.0
He becomes Baidu's CEO in 2004. The company releases an updated ERNIE 5.0 omni-modal foundation model in January 2026, and Li remains its co-founder and CEO in August 2026.
Sources and credits
Photo: 中国新闻社, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY 3.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.
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- Robin Li | Biography | Research Starters | EBSCOhost
- Robin Li - Wikipedia
- About Rankdex
- Robin Li, MS '94 | Department of Biological Sciences | University at Buffalo
- "New Infrastructure" Plan Will Facilitate the Arrival of an Intelligent Economy and Society, Says Robin Li at WAIC
- Baidu Unveils ERNIE Bot, the Latest Generative AI Mastering Chinese Language and Multi-Modal Generation
- Baidu Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024 Results
- Baidu Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Results
- Baidu Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results