Recently, the domestic artificial intelligence company DeepSeek has garnered widespread attention due to its outstanding performance. Interestingly, some netizens have discovered that there seems to be a "near miss" story between DeepSeek and its upstairs neighbor - Beijing Baidu Investment Management Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Baidu Ventures").
It is understood that both DeepSeek and Baidu Ventures are located in the same building, with DeepSeek on the fifth floor and Baidu Ventures on the sixth floor, making their proximity quite close. However, this pair of "upstairs and downstairs" neighbors has not been able to work together, leading to much speculation and discussion among netizens.
In response to this topic, Gao Xue, CEO of Baidu Ventures, recently made a public statement. Gao stated that Baidu Ventures, an independent venture capital institution initiated by Baidu Group in 2017, while located in the same building as DeepSeek, does not base its investment decisions solely on geographical location.
Gao revealed that at the very moment DeepSeek moved into the building in May 2024, Baidu Ventures took the initiative to visit its relevant personnel and has maintained a friendly interactive relationship ever since. However, due to DeepSeek's large model business not being split into an independent financing plan, Baidu Ventures has not yet been able to become its investor.
Nevertheless, Gao emphasized that Baidu Ventures has always focused on the layout and exploration in the field of artificial intelligence, and has invested in over a hundred Chinese startup technology companies, including companies like DeepMind Technology, Shenshu Technology, Xidi Smart Driving, Jiushi Intelligent, Zhiyuan Technology, Xinghai Map, Molecular Heart, and Huayi Quantum. In the future, Baidu Ventures will continue to invest heavily in more Chinese startup artificial intelligence companies to contribute to the development of the AI sector.