Latest news with #ChinaNationalIntellectualPropertyAdministration


India Today
09-05-2025
- Science
- India Today
Baidu in China working on AI that will let humans understand animals
Have you ever wondered what your cat or dog is trying to say? Sounds ambitious, right? Well, Baidu is now working on something that might help with this. For those who don't know, Baidu is a Chinese tech company founded in 2000, and is known for running the country's biggest search engine. It wants to use AI to understand what animals are feeling or trying to say. The company recently filed a patent with the China National Intellectual Property Administration that describes a special system that could change animal sounds into human language. This system would use a mix of animal sounds, behaviour, and body signals to guess the animal's emotions and then turn those emotions into words we can to Baidu's patent, the system will first collect sounds made by animals, such as meows, barks or other vocalisations. It will also look at their behaviour, like how they move or act, along with body data like heart rate. All of this information will be processed together using AI to figure out what the animal might be feeling — like happiness, fear or hunger. Then, the system — in theory — would match these feelings with words or phrases in human language. This could allow people to talk with their pets in a whole new said in the patent that the system would allow 'deeper emotional communication and understanding between animals and humans, improving the accuracy and efficiency of cross-species communication.' When asked about when this product might be ready, a Baidu spokesperson said, 'There has been a lot of interest in the filing of our patent application. Currently, it is still in the research phase.'advertisementBaidu is not the only one working on this idea. Around the world, other scientists are also trying to use AI to study how animals communicate. For example, Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) is studying how sperm whales talk to each other using sounds. Another group called the Earth Species Project is also working to decode animal communication using technology. That project is supported by big names, including LinkedIn co-founder Reid news of Baidu's new animal translation patent came out, many folks on Chinese social media started talking. Some were excited, while others weren't so sure about the whole idea. A Weibo user wrote, 'While it sounds impressive, we'll need to see how it performs in real-world applications.'


Asahi Shimbun
09-05-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
China's Baidu looks to patent AI system to decipher animal sounds
A Baidu sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (REUTERS) BEIJING--Ever wished you could understand what your cat is trying to tell you? A Chinese tech company is exploring whether it's possible to translate those mysterious meows into human language using artificial intelligence. Baidu, owner of China's largest search engine, has filed a patent with China National Intellectual Property Administration proposing a system to convert animal vocalizations into human language, according to a patent document published this week. Scientists have long attempted to decode animal communication, and Baidu's patent represents the latest effort to leverage AI to do so. The document says the system will collect animal data, including vocal sounds, behavioral patterns, and physiological signals, which will be preprocessed and merged before an AI-powered analysis designed to recognize the animal's emotional state. The emotional states would then be mapped to semantic meanings and translated into human language. The system could allow 'deeper emotional communication and understanding between animals and humans, improving the accuracy and efficiency of cross-species communication,' Baidu said in the patent document. 'There has been a lot of interest in the filing of our patent application,' a Baidu spokesperson said when asked how soon the company could turn the patent into a product. 'Currently, it is still in the research phase.' Baidu was among the first major Chinese companies to invest heavily in AI following the 2022 debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT. It unveiled its latest AI model, Ernie 4.5 Turbo, last month, saying it matched the industry's best in several benchmark tests. However, the Ernie chatbot has struggled to gain traction amid fierce competition. A number of efforts are underway outside China to try and interpret what animals want to convey. International researchers at Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) have been using statistical analysis and AI since 2020 to understand how sperm whales communicate, while the Earth Species Project, a non-profit founded in 2017 whose backers include LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, is also trying to use AI to decode animal communication. Local media reports about Baidu's patent application sparked discussion on Chinese social media platforms late on Wednesday. While some were excited about the possibility of eventually being better able to understand their pets, others were skeptical. 'While it sounds impressive, we'll need to see how it performs in real-world applications,' commented a user on Weibo.


Business Recorder
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
China's Baidu looks to patent AI system to decipher animal sounds
BEIJING: Ever wished you could understand what your cat is trying to tell you? A Chinese tech company is exploring whether it's possible to translate those mysterious meows into human language using artificial intelligence. Baidu, owner of China's largest search engine, has filed a patent with China National Intellectual Property Administration proposing a system to convert animal vocalisations into human language, according to a patent document published this week. Scientists have long attempted to decode animal communication, and Baidu's patent represents the latest effort to leverage AI to do so. The document says the system will collect animal data, including vocal sounds, behavioural patterns, and physiological signals, which will be preprocessed and merged before an AI-powered analysis designed to recognise the animal's emotional state. The emotional states would then be mapped to semantic meanings and translated into human language. The system could allow 'deeper emotional communication and understanding between animals and humans, improving the accuracy and efficiency of cross-species communication,' Baidu said in the patent document. 'There has been a lot of interest in the filing of our patent application,' a Baidu spokesperson said when asked how soon the company could turn the patent into a product. 'Currently, it is still in the research phase.' Baidu was among the first major Chinese companies to invest heavily in AI following the 2022 debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT. It unveiled its latest AI model, Ernie 4.5 Turbo, last month, saying it matched the industry's best in several benchmark tests. However, the Ernie chatbot has struggled to gain traction amid fierce competition. Baidu launches AI agent Xinxiang for Android platform, iOS version under review A number of efforts are underway outside China to try and interpret what animals want to convey. International researchers at Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) have been using statistical analysis and AI since 2020 to understand how sperm whales communicate, while the Earth Species Project, a non-profit founded in 2017 whose backers include LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, is also trying to use AI to decode animal communication. Local media reports about Baidu's patent application sparked discussion on Chinese social media platforms late on Wednesday. While some were excited about the possibility of eventually being better able to understand their pets, others were sceptical. 'While it sounds impressive, we'll need to see how it performs in real-world applications,' commented a user on Weibo.

The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
China's Baidu looks to patent AI system to decipher animal sounds
Ever wished you could understand what your cat is trying to tell you? A Chinese tech company is exploring whether it's possible to translate those mysterious meows into human language using artificial intelligence. Baidu, owner of China's largest search engine, has filed a patent with China National Intellectual Property Administration proposing a system to convert animal vocalisations into human language, according to a patent document published this week. Scientists have long attempted to decode animal communication, and Baidu's patent represents the latest effort to leverage AI to do so. The document says the system will collect animal data, including vocal sounds, behavioural patterns, and physiological signals, which will be preprocessed and merged before an AI-powered analysis designed to recognise the animal's emotional state. The emotional states would then be mapped to semantic meanings and translated into human language. The system could allow "deeper emotional communication and understanding between animals and humans, improving the accuracy and efficiency of cross-species communication," Baidu said in the patent document. "There has been a lot of interest in the filing of our patent application," a Baidu spokesperson said when asked how soon the company could turn the patent into a product. "Currently, it is still in the research phase." Baidu was among the first major Chinese companies to invest heavily in AI following the 2022 debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT. It unveiled its latest AI model, Ernie 4.5 Turbo, last month, saying it matched the industry's best in several benchmark tests. However, the Ernie chatbot has struggled to gain traction amid fierce competition. A number of efforts are underway outside China to try and interpret what animals want to convey. International researchers at Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) have been using statistical analysis and AI since 2020 to understand how sperm whales communicate, while the Earth Species Project, a non-profit founded in 2017 whose backers include LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, is also trying to use AI to decode animal communication. Local media reports about Baidu's patent application sparked discussion on Chinese social media platforms late on Wednesday. While some were excited about the possibility of eventually being better able to understand their pets, others were sceptical. "While it sounds impressive, we'll need to see how it performs in real-world applications," commented a user on Weibo.


The Star
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
China's Baidu looks to patent AI system to decipher animal sounds
What's that, kitty? Scientists have long attempted to decode animal communication, and Baidu's patent represents the latest effort to leverage AI to do so. — Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash BEIJING: Ever wished you could understand what your cat is trying to tell you? A Chinese tech company is exploring whether it's possible to translate those mysterious meows into human language using artificial intelligence. Baidu, owner of China's largest search engine, has filed a patent with China National Intellectual Property Administration proposing a system to convert animal vocalisations into human language, according to a patent document published this week. Scientists have long attempted to decode animal communication, and Baidu's patent represents the latest effort to leverage AI to do so. The document says the system will collect animal data, including vocal sounds, behavioural patterns, and physiological signals, which will be preprocessed and merged before an AI-powered analysis designed to recognise the animal's emotional state. The emotional states would then be mapped to semantic meanings and translated into human language. The system could allow "deeper emotional communication and understanding between animals and humans, improving the accuracy and efficiency of cross-species communication," Baidu said in the patent document. "There has been a lot of interest in the filing of our patent application," a Baidu spokesperson said when asked how soon the company could turn the patent into a product. "Currently, it is still in the research phase." Baidu was among the first major Chinese companies to invest heavily in AI following the 2022 debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT. It unveiled its latest AI model, Ernie 4.5 Turbo, last month, saying it matched the industry's best in several benchmark tests. However, the Ernie chatbot has struggled to gain traction amid fierce competition. A number of efforts are underway outside China to try and interpret what animals want to convey. International researchers at Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative) have been using statistical analysis and AI since 2020 to understand how sperm whales communicate, while the Earth Species Project, a non-profit founded in 2017 whose backers include LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman, is also trying to use AI to decode animal communication. Local media reports about Baidu's patent application sparked discussion on Chinese social media platforms late on Wednesday. While some were excited about the possibility of eventually being better able to understand their pets, others were sceptical. "While it sounds impressive, we'll need to see how it performs in real-world applications," commented a user on Weibo. – Reuters