Chinese tech giants Baidu Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. announced today that they’re teaming up to build an open artificial intelligence ecosystem for mobile devices.

The two companies said they want to create platform that fosters the development of mobile AI that “knows you better.” The new ecosystem will combine Baidu Brain, which is the catch-all term for Baidu’s various AI tools, with Huawei’s HiAI mobile computing platform. The project will also take advantage of the AI-focused hardware components that Huawei installs in its latest smartphone models.

“The future is all about smart devices that will actively serve us, not just respond to what we tell them to do,” Richard Yu (pictured, right), chief executive of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, said in a statement. “With a strong background in R&D, Huawei will work with Baidu to accelerate innovation in the industry, develop the next generation of smartphones, and provide global consumers with AI that knows you better.”

For his part, Baidu Chairman and CEO Robin Li (left) noted that Baidu has been working in AI for years and looks forward to applying that work to Huawei’s large user base. “Together, Baidu and Huawei can do many things which we were not able to do in the past,” he said. “The Chinese saying ‘let a hundred flowers bloom’ is a good way to describe our cooperation – today we planted the seeds, and I believe soon they will grow into many flowers.”

Baidu, which has been called “China’s Google,” has been a key figure in China’s rapidly growing AI market, and the company has invested significant resources in encouraging the development of new AI applications. Last year, Baidu open-sourced its deep learning platform PaddlePaddle, which will be a major component of its partnership with Huawei. Baidu has also backed several academic research projects on AI and machine learning, such as a study conducted by researchers at Stanford University into the accuracy of speech-to-text AI.

In addition to the AI partnership, Baidu and Huawei announced they will work together to build an augmented reality ecosystem, likely in the same vein as Apple Inc.’s ARKit, and the two companies will strengthen their cooperation in other areas such as mobile search.

Photo: Baidu and Huawei