Baidu appoints Microsoft exec as group president and COO

Baidu the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, has appointed Dr Qi Lu as Baidu’s group president and chief operating officer, in charge of products, technology, sales, marketing and operations, effective immediately. He directly reports to Robin Li, Baidu's Chairman and Group CEO.Prior to joining Baidu, Dr. Lu served as Microsoft's global executive vice president and led one of Microsoft’s three business units. He joined Yahoo! in 1998 and later became senior vice president in charge of search and advertising technologies, and subsequently became executive vice president in 2007. In 2009 he joined Microsoft as president of its Online Services Group. In 2013, Dr. Lu was appointed as Microsoft’s global executive vice president and was put in charge of its Office business."We are delighted to welcome Dr Qi Lu to our senior executive team," said Li. "Dr Lu possesses a wealth of leadership and management experience, and is a leading authority in the area of artificial intelligence. I am confident that Dr. Lu will make major contributions to the overall strength of our management and technology.”"Baidu is well known as one of China’s top technology companies, and is already recognised on the global stage as a leader in AI. I am excited to help realise Baidu's visionary AI strategy,” said Dr. Lu.