BAIDU Inc.’s revenue rose its most in more than a year, joining China’s largest internet companies in rediscovering growth.

The company late Tuesday reported a larger-than-projected 15% jump in sales to 34.1 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion) for the June quarter. Net income rose 43% to 5.2 billion yuan.

Like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd., China’s search leader is riding a recovery in advertising and consumer spending from the depths of the COVID era in 2022.

On Tuesday, video platform Kuaishou Technology reported its first net income on record after sales beat expectations.

Investors for now are focused on Baidu’s AI ambitions, since the Chinese company demonstrated its domestic leadership by unveiling a ChatGPT-rival called Ernie in March. Alibaba and Tencent have since joined a parade of startups in touting their own large language models to try and match OpenAI’s seminal creation, raising questions about whether Baidu can sustain its current lead.

Baidu founder Robin Li said the company awaits regulators’ approval to roll out its answer to ChatGPT to the public, skirting questions about specific timing.

The uncertainty reflects regulations that kicked in Aug. 15 requiring a security review before AI services can hit the market.

Till then, Li conveyed optimism about the prospects for advertising despite macroeconomic volatility, though growth rates may fluctuate.

“For the second half of the year, we should continue to see a pretty clear recovery trend for our online marketing business,” he said.

In June, the company, also China’s leader in autonomous driving, claimed Ernie has outperformed ChatGPT on several measures. (SD-Agencies)