Because of Robin Li’s introduction at the press conference, and also because the real-time detection algorithm has become a very important income component for Baidu after it was connected to the government.
This resulted in the Baidu employees in the Shanghai branch basically knowing Meng Fanqi.
Due to Wang Kai's smooth promotion in Changping District of Yanjing, government agencies have integrated new technologies to make their offices smart and efficient and are regarded as a positive example.
A case that aroused a certain amount of public opinion was handled at the speed of light, which is a great political achievement for those involved.
Therefore, when relevant personnel talk about artificial intelligence technology, everyone is not stingy in their praise.
The Ministry of Public Security even has powerful officials at the deputy ministerial level who have praised artificial intelligence technology in public.
Although it is not a very formal meeting, nor is it a stamped document, but in terms of the usual cautious style of Chinese government personnel, its weight is already considerable.
As the second most important city in China, Shanghai has naturally become one of the cities that Baidu focuses on when promoting AI.
While Meng Fanqi was reporting the results in Xini, the Baidu Shanghai branch had begun trying to contact the Shanghai district governments, and some progress had been made.
And we have already won one or two small million-dollar contracts like the Yanjing Hydrological Station.
If this trend continues, it will be obvious to the naked eye that the bonus for this year will increase for several more months.
The source of all this comes from the excessively young college student in front of me.
The likes and dislikes of beating workers are so pure. No matter how strong and awesome you are, it's one thing, and everyone will just laugh and praise you.
But if you can give me two more months of bonus at the end of the year, then you will be my relative.
After two days of rapid development in Baidu, this group of people from the Shanghai branch insisted on treating them to dinner.
Meng Fanqi looked around for a week. Maybe he came too early, or maybe his former colleagues were in other branches.
I didn't see any acquaintances from my previous life.
I wanted to refuse, but then I thought that not many people have contacted the government about artificial intelligence projects, so it would be a good idea to ask them for advice.
Since Shanghai City's top tertiary hospital sent him an email, considering the current national situation, Meng Fanqi plans to open the company in Shanghai.
In this way, it is necessary to learn from some of Baidu Shanghai's experiences.
The meal was not a grand occasion, and the Baidu Shanghai Branch did not mean that everyone had to be present.
Instead, one or two representatives from each department, about ten people, found a barbecue restaurant and chatted while grilling.
In Baidu Shanghai branch, a senior back-end engineer came to the software department. He was about thirty-three or four years old. Meng Fanqi didn't remember what he called him when he was just introduced. Everyone called him Lao Li.
Another representative of the software department is a young engineer in database and systems, similar to Wang Kai, in his twenties. Named Jiang Mingxuan, he formed a triumphant combination with Wang Kai.
Judging from the interactions and conversations between these people, Wang Kai was very familiar with them, which made Meng Fanqi feel a little strange.
After careful questioning, I found out that Wang Kai had been working in the Shanghai branch for a period of time. Later, his salary was improved due to the establishment of the AI Deep Learning Research Institute in Yanjing.
And since he had relevant background, he applied for internal assessment and was subsequently transferred to Yanjing.
Starting a business in Shanghai was like killing two birds with one stone for him. No wonder he was so active after hearing that Meng Fanqi wanted to locate the company in Shanghai.
After chatting with the Baidu Shanghai team, Meng Fanqi felt that Shanghai’s overall attitude towards artificial intelligence was relatively dull and not positive enough.
From an entrepreneurial perspective, between 2013 and 2016, Shanghai, or China as a whole, did not provide strong support for the AI industry.
According to the original timeline, Shang Hai’s change in the direction of the AI industry began in 2017.
China has issued the "New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" directly from the State Council, which clearly requires that by 2030, artificial intelligence will be implemented in three steps, and local governments will be encouraged to build artificial intelligence industry clusters and innovation highlands.
As soon as the policy came out, Shang Hai acted the fastest, responding at the speed of light, proposing development goals and issuing corresponding policies.
On the one hand, this is because the artificial intelligence industry is advancing by leaps and bounds. On the other hand, it is also because in 2017, the Internet industry, which has been brilliant for more than ten years, has generally flattened and begun to move toward stock.
From prosperity to decline, even Shanghai is facing the problem of industrial transformation.
"It's still too late in 2017. I have to think of ways to use AI achievements to make big news and push the government to start paying attention to this aspect early." In this way, on the one hand, it will be beneficial to the country's competitiveness in this area in the future, and on the other hand, it will On the one hand, starting a business can also reduce many obstacles.
Meng Fanqi had unknowingly caused the real-time detection algorithm to cooperate with the Yanjing Municipal Government.
And it attracted the attention of public security minister-level bosses to artificial intelligence technology.
However, this kind of image detection and analysis is somewhat similar to the original traditional image processing method. Meng Fanqi is not sure whether laymen can tell the difference.
Moreover, this level of enthusiasm may not be enough for the country to formulate relevant AI industry development strategies a few years in advance.
"Real-time detection has taken the first step, but in this aspect alone, the impact is far from enough. What I need is something that can sink into everyone, with broad influence and high popularity. It’s best to keep up with the mobile trend.”
Meng Fanqi was thinking about this problem while chatting with Baidu's staff.
During the conversation, they frequently talked about the market share of some mobile apps, and joked that Baidu Zhen App had acquired Ming Deng.
No matter how popular an app is, as long as Baidu acquires it, it will completely fade away within a few months or a year.
Let’s not talk about the small apps, let’s talk about the 91 they are talking about at this time, which is also an invincible big deal.
This 91 is not a strange 91, but a 91 mobile assistant.
Just a month or two before Meng Fanqi first came into contact with Robin Li, Baidu purchased 91 Mobile Assistant for a sky-high price of US$1.9 billion.
However, within two or three years, with the advancement of Apple's own platform, major mobile phone manufacturers have also launched their own platforms.
91 Assistant quickly became popular. 91 Apple Assistant stopped updating in 2017, and the Android channel was directly offline in 2020.
But that’s a story for another day. 91 Assistant, which was just acquired at a sky-high price, is at its peak, with cumulative application downloads exceeding 10 billion.
On average, each person has nearly ten downloads.
"Perhaps the first product I should make should be a popular app, rather than a certain paper or a certain technology." Meng Fanqi reflected on his immaturity in thinking.
After returning from rebirth, in order to obtain initial capital, he spent more than half a year writing code, doing experiments, and preparing papers.
This gave him bad thinking habits.
Perhaps this method of paper + technology sharing can gain some fame and status in the academic world, but it must really be known to everyone and the technology can enter the homes of ordinary people.
The final form is to make a product like ChatGPT that everyone can use.
Meng Fanqi thought carefully about it, and perhaps an app for editing expressions and characters' ages would be of great benefit to him at this point in time.
