Amid crackdown on tech firms, Chinese tech major Xiaodu closes funding at $5.1 billion valuation

Even as the regulatory crackdown on the Chinese tech companies by Beijing continues, the homegrown tech company Baidu Inc has announced that its artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistant Xiaodu Technology has closed Series B financing at $5.1 billion valuations.

The announcement by Baidu just comes a day after the Chinese government announced to invoke the new data protection law from November 1 later this year. The recent rumbling by the Chinese administration has caused much upheaval in many sectors including e-commerce, ride-hailing and cryptocurrency.

Xiaodu is the developer of DuerOS, a voice assistant system based on AI that supports television, speakers and other smart home appliances. It completed its Series A funding in November 2020 at a post-money valuation of $2.9 billion, said Baidu.

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Earlier in March, Baidu said that its AI chip unit Kunlun also completed a round of fundraising, which according to one source with direct knowledge of the matter valued the business at about $2 billion.

Baidu however, clarified that even after the transaction it would remain a majority shareholder in the company.