👁 Image BaiduWiki logo | |||||||
Type of site | Online encyclopedia | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Available in | English, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Russian | ||||||
| Founded | 2026 | ||||||
| Headquarters | , China | ||||||
| Owner | Baidu | ||||||
| Created by | Baidu | ||||||
| URL | https://baike.baidu.com/en/index | ||||||
| Commercial | Yes | ||||||
| Registration | Optional (required to edit pages) | ||||||
| Current status | Active | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 百度維基 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 百度维基 | ||||||
| |||||||
BaiduWiki is Baidu's multilingual version of Baidu Baike online encyclopedia. It was launched in January 2026, in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian and Japanese. The articles were translated from the traditional Chinese Baidu Baike with the help of AI tools. The intention is to compete with Wikipedia for the international market. The launch of BaiduWiki marks Baidu Baike's official transition from a Chinese knowledge platform to a global knowledge service, and the expansion of its single-language version to a Chinese version and an international multilingual version.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
History
[edit]Baidu Baike was created in Chinese language by Baidu founder Robin Li, and was released to the public as a replacement of Wikipedia in China around 20 April 2006, following the Chinese government's decision to censor Wikipedia in 2005.[8][9][10]
During the conference WWW2008 of the World Wide Web Consortium, Baidu's William Chang said, "There is, in fact, no reason for China to use Wikipedia ... It's very natural for China to make its own products."[11] The Chinese government has, through the Great Firewall, blocked access to all editions of Wikipedia since 2019.[12][13][7]
Baidu Baike reached 30 million articles in 2025.[14] In the mid 2020s, Baidu Baike faced challenges from Large Language Model-based AI assistants supplanting the need for users to consult Baidu Baike for information.[15][7][3]
On January 30, 2026, Baidu launched BaiduWiki, an international version of Baidu Baike available in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Russian. The articles were translated from the Chinese version Baidu Baike with help of AI tools. The launch of BaiduWiki marks Baidu Baike's official transition from a Chinese knowledge platform to a global knowledge service. It also marks the expansion of Baidu's single-language version to a Chinese version and an international multilingual version.[1][2][5][3]
On February 1, 2026, the numbers of articles on BaiduWiki exceeded one million.[1][3][16]
On February 9, 2026, an “international version” entry point was added to the traditional Baidu Baike, allowing readers to move directly from its Chinese pages to their corresponding multilingual pages on BaiduWiki.[4][16](Please see the "文A English" or "国际版" multilingual button on the screen images of the sources)
Features
[edit]BaiduWiki is a multilingual online encyclopedia of around one million entries in Wikipedia style, available in English, Spanish, French, Russian and Japanese. The purpose is to create an authoritative portal for global users to understand Chinese culture.[1][7][5][3]
The articles were translated from the selected most advantageous content of the Chinese Baidu Baike of over 30 million articles, with the help of multiple AI agents including Baidu's ERNIE AI model.[5][1][7][6][3]
BaiduWiki supports content presentation by video, text and images, and relationships.[5][1][6] In the first week after its launch, BaiduWiki saw a 37% increase in searches by overseas users and a 52% increase in views of knowledge-based content.[17]
As of February 2026, Baidu had accumulated over 8.03 million contributing users. Its "Program of Stars" has partnered with institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University, and collaborated with 100,000 experts to create over 1 million pieces of professional knowledge.[3]
Debate
[edit]While Wikipedia depends on human editors for much of the jobs, BaiduWiki heavily relies on AI to create and edit articles. This may speed up editing work, but may also cause questioning of content accuracy and neutrality.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Ben Jiangin (12 Feb 2026). "China's Baidu unveils AI-driven Wikipedia challenger in bid for international users". South China Morning Post.
- ^ a b "Baidu Expands Global AI Footprint With Apollo Go And BaiduWiki Launches". Yahoo. February 18, 2026. Retrieved 2026-03-05.
- ^ a b c d e f g "百度百科推出国际版 BaiduWiki,首批上线100万词条 (Baidu Encyclopedia launches international version BaiduWiki, with 1 million entries initially available)". China Daily (in Chinese). 2026-02-10.
- ^ a b "百度百科推出国际版 BaiduWiki,首批支持五大语种 (Baidu Encyclopedia launches international version, BaiduWiki, initially supporting five languages)" (in Chinese). Tencent. 2026-02-10.
- ^ a b c d e "百度推全球搜及百度百科國際版BaiduWiki (Baidu launches global search and Baidu Wiki (international version))". Hong Kong Economic Journal (in Chinese). 2026-02-10.
- ^ a b c "百度百科推出国际版BaiduWiki,首批支持英语、法语、西班牙语等五大语种 (Baidu Baike launches international version BaiduWiki, initially supporting five major languages including English, French, and Spanish)" (in Chinese). Phoenix New Media Limited. 2026-02-10.
- ^ a b c d e f Simran Mishra (12 Feb 2026). "Baidu Launches AI-Powered BaiduWiki to Compete With Wikipedia in Global Markets". Analytics insight.
- ^ "百度百科四周年倒计时 不知者百度之!" [Baidu Baike's fourth anniversary countdown is here! If you don't know, just search it on Baidu!]. Xinhua News Agency. 16 April 2010. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014 – via 163.com.
- ^ Shariza Baranyanka (2018-03-21). "Baidu, l'anti-Google: comment Robin Li a créé un monopole chinois". www.numerama.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-01-15.
- ^ "Baidu desafía a la Wikipedia en China con su nueva enciclopedia 'on line'" [Baidu challenges Wikipedia in China with its new online encyclopedia]. El Mundo (in Spanish). EFE. 12 May 2006. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ Webster, Graham (2008-04-22). "Baidu's William Chang: 'No reason for China to use Wikipedia'". CNET News. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
- ^ Eva Woo (2007-11-13). "Baidu's Censored Answer to Wikipedia". Business Week. Archived from the original on 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
- ^ "Wikipedia blocked in China in all languages". BBC. 2019-05-14. Archived from the original on 30 October 2023. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
- ^ "百度百科词条总量突破3000万,联合《大学科普》等多机构推出科普专刊" [Baidu Baike has surpassed 30 million entries and launched a special science popularization issue in conjunction with "University Science Popularization" and other organizations.]. CCIDnet. Retrieved 2025-12-13 – via sina.com.cn.
- ^ "AI冲击之下,百度百科也要寻求改变 _ 东方财富网" [Under the impact of AI, Baidu Encyclopedia also needs to seek change.]. Jiemian News. 7 January 2026. Retrieved 2026-01-14 – via finance.eastmoney.com.
- ^ a b "BaiduWiki" (in Chinese). Baidu Baike. Retrieved 2026-02-27.
- ^ "百度加速全球化布局:"全球搜"上线,BaiduWiki多语种词条助力知识服务出海 (Baidu accelerates its globalization strategy: "Global Search" launched, BaiduWiki's multilingual entries facilitate the export of knowledge services)". Sohu. 2026-02-11.
