His Search Idea Came Before Google's — Robin Li

In Wuhan, China, you can hail a taxi with no one in the driver's seat.

These robotaxis belong to Baidu, the company Robin Li started in 2000. Baidu began as a search engine. Today Robin is betting its future on artificial intelligence.

A boy from Yangquan

A public WiFi hotspot in Yangquan, Robin Li's hometown (Wikimedia Commons, credit needed)

Robin Li, whose Chinese name is Li Yanhong, was born in 1968 in Yangquan, Shanxi province, China. His parents were factory workers.

He was a top student and got into Peking University, where he studied information management.

Peking University, where Robin studied (Wikimedia Commons, credit needed)

America and RankDex

The University at Buffalo, where Robin earned his master's degree (Wikimedia Commons, credit needed)

Robin moved to the United States and earned a master's degree in computer science at the University at Buffalo.

In 1996, while working for a company owned by Dow Jones, he created RankDex, a way to rank search results by looking at links between websites. It came before Google's famous PageRank idea.

He then worked at Infoseek, an early search company in Silicon Valley.

Baidu

Robin Li at the Web 2.0 Summit, 2010 (Wikimedia Commons, credit needed)

In January 2000, Robin returned to China and co-founded Baidu with Eric Xu in Beijing. The name comes from a line in an old Chinese poem about searching again and again.

Baidu became China's leading search engine. In August 2005, it listed on the Nasdaq, and its shares soared on the first day.

When Google pulled its search engine out of mainland China in 2010, Baidu's lead grew even bigger.

Baidu headquarters in Shangdi, Beijing (Wikimedia Commons, credit needed)

Betting on AI

As mobile apps changed the internet, Robin pushed Baidu into artificial intelligence early.

In 2023, Baidu launched Ernie Bot, its AI chatbot, and kept upgrading its Ernie models. Its Apollo Go robotaxi service grew to more than 23 million rides and expanded outside China, including to Hong Kong and Dubai.

Baidu Technology Park in Beijing (Wikimedia Commons, credit needed)

Where he is now

Today, Robin Li is co-founder, chairman and CEO of Baidu, steering it as an AI first company.

Why the story matters

Robin Li's story shows how deep expertise can travel. He learned search in America, then built the leader in his home country.

For young builders, the lesson is simple. Master a skill deeply, then use it where the opportunity is growing fastest.

He did not just help people find answers. Now he wants machines to drive them there.

The Record

Born: 1968

From: Yangquan, Shanxi, China

Studied: Information management, Peking University; M.S. computer science, University at Buffalo

Built: Baidu (with Eric Xu)

Timeline

1968 Born in Yangquan.

1996 Creates RankDex.

2000 Co-founds Baidu.

2005 Baidu lists on the Nasdaq.

2010 Google exits mainland search; Baidu dominates.

2023 Launches Ernie Bot.

2026 Apollo Go passes 23 million rides.