Qualcomm and Baidu Partner to Build Metaverse Infrastructure

• Baidu and Qualcomm partner for XR and metaverse tech.
• Integration of Snapdragon Spaces XR with XiRang.
• Focus on metaverse despite AI’s rising interest.

Baidu, a prominent Chinese internet company, and Qualcomm, a leading technology firm, have unveiled a strategic alliance aimed at advancing extended reality (XR) technology and metaverse infrastructure.

The joint announcement, made on Friday, highlights their shared focus on harnessing generative artificial intelligence (AI) as a critical aspect of their partnership.

This collaboration will involve the integration of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Spaces XR developer platform into Baidu’s XiRang metaverse platform. This integration is expected to accelerate the development of XR applications, leading to the rapid deployment of services across various sectors such as tourism, education, and sports.

Cheng Lixin, Qualcomm’s Senior Vice President on a global scale, expressed confidence in this partnership, emphasizing its potential to drive metaverse growth in China. Nevertheless, this announcement comes amidst a decline in interest in the metaverse and extended reality, with generative AI applications increasingly capturing attention.

Meta, previously known as Facebook and rebranded in 2021 with a focus on the metaverse, shifted its attention towards AI during a recent earnings call in March. Despite CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s prior emphasis on the metaverse as a “high-priority growth area,” he later stressed that “advancing AI” had become the company’s “single largest investment.”

In 2023, there has also been a slowdown in venture financing deals for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), crucial components of the metaverse. According to data from GlobalData’s deal database, these deals amounted to $521 million as of September 15, 2023, representing a significant decrease from the previous year when VR and AR financing deals reached $1.6 billion.

Baidu’s collaboration with Qualcomm builds on its history of partnering with industry leaders to advance technology. In 2017, Baidu and Qualcomm initiated a project to optimize Baidu’s DuerOS conversational AI system for smartphones using the Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platform. Additionally, since 2020, Baidu has been engaged in collaborations with Intel on various projects, including AI, 5G, data centers, and cloud computing infrastructure.

The partnership between Baidu and Qualcomm underscores a strategic shift towards the development of AI technologies and the metaverse. However, the evolving landscape of technological interest and investment will be a key factor in determining how this collaboration navigates its path forward.

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