Baidu CEO li yanhong equates current embodied AI to 2016 autonomous driving capabilities

During the opening ceremony of the Baidu World 2026 conference, Baidu founder Li Yanhong asserted that the current state of embodied intelligence is comparable to the level of autonomous driving technology around 2016. Li Yanhong emphasized that autonomous driving has been a core technological focus for Baidu for over a decade, noting that the company's autonomous driving efforts currently place it among the global leaders. He expressed strong confidence in the future prospects of Apollo Go, viewing autonomous driving as an indispensable component of the ongoing competition in artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the company revealed that a unique unmanned vehicle rental service, a collaboration between Apollo Go and Shenzhou Rent-a-Car, has been operational for over a year. This partnership has merged traditional car rental with autonomous vehicles, creating what is described as the world's only such model, and it is currently available for use, such as in Hainan.