Meet the top 100 business visionaries creating value for the world

82. Robin Li

Cofounder and CEO, Baidu

It’s hard to imagine a world without Google, but in China, the go-to search engine is Robin Li’s Baidu.

Launched in 2000, Baidu quickly gained traction in China and is now worth nearly $60 billion. And since Google pulled out of the country in 2010, Baidu has been able to corner the market on search — though Li argues his company would still thrive in the same space as Google. In addition to search, image, video, and news functions, Baidu operates online discussion forums, knowledge-sharing platforms, and more features tailored to a Chinese audience.

Baidu also runs a research lab, based in Silicon Valley, that develops artificial intelligence technology with a goal of impacting and improving the lives of 100 million people. First up is the development of speech-recognition capabilities for mobile devices. Over time, the lab aims to make it as easy to talk to a phone or tablet as it is to hold a conversation with another human.

It hasn’t been completely smooth sailing for Baidu, however. In May, it received sanctions from the Cyberspace Administration of China after a 21-year-old cancer patient died from an experimental treatment program he found via the search engine. In addition to regaining customer trust, Baidu must now retool its algorithms so that the highest-paid results aren’t automatically the most prominently featured.

Li remained steadfast throughout the controversy. In light of the news, he announced that Baidu would strive to put user experience above all else, even if it comes at the expense of the company.