Baidu Wins World Internet Conference Distinguished Contribution Award for Endangered Species AI Guardian Project
Baidu has won the Social Contribution category of the 2026 World Internet Conference Distinguished Contribution Award for its "Endangered Species AI Guardian" project, developed in collaboration with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). The project uses PaddlePaddle and the ERNIE large model to identify images of endangered wildlife products, achieving an accuracy rate of 86% and covering 34 categories of endangered species and their products. As of April 2026, the project has assisted in screening nearly 500,000 images, helped remove nearly 18,000 illegal trade advertisements, and open-sourced the recognition model through PaddlePaddle.
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On November 3, the 2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit opened. At the "World Internet Conference Distinguished Contribution Award" ceremony held during the opening ceremony, Baidu won the "World Internet Conference Distinguished Contribution Award - Social Contribution Category" for its "Endangered Species AI Guardian" project, developed in cooperation with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
The "World Internet Conference Distinguished Contribution Award" was established in 2024 to recognize individuals and enterprises that have made outstanding contributions in Internet-related fields worldwide. Baidu's receipt of the Social Contribution Award this time not only affirms the project's effectiveness in biodiversity conservation, but also constitutes authoritative recognition of its sustained efforts in recent years to empower global sustainable development and social welfare practices through artificial intelligence technology.
In recent years, illegal wildlife trade has become one of the main factors threatening global biodiversity. According to a joint assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme and Interpol, the global illegal wildlife trade is worth up to US$23 billion annually, making it the third-largest transnational criminal industry after drug and arms trafficking. With the rapid spread of the Internet and social platforms, cyberspace has gradually evolved into a core channel for related illegal transactions.
To address this global challenge, Baidu has worked with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) since 2020 to launch the "Endangered Species AI Guardian" project. Relying on the capabilities of Baidu's PaddlePaddle deep learning platform and ERNIE large model, the project has undergone multiple rounds of technological iteration and upgrading, achieving automated identification of images of endangered wildlife products, with an identification accuracy rate of 86%, covering 34 categories of endangered species and products.
From its deployment through April 2026, the project has assisted in screening nearly 500,000 images, accurately identifying more than 50,000 target images, and helped prompt the removal of nearly 18,000 illegal trade advertisements. It has also open-sourced the identification model through the PaddlePaddle platform, empowering public welfare organizations and law enforcement agencies worldwide free of charge. Prior to this, the project had already been selected for the United Nations "AI for Good" case collection and had won international honors such as the Edison Award Silver.
Ecological protection is only one microcosm of Baidu's long-term practice of corporate social responsibility and its philosophy of "technology for good." In promoting collaborative global governance of technology and society, a number of Baidu's innovative practices have repeatedly gained recognition on the international stage.
Since the beginning of this year, Baidu has performed impressively at the United Nations "2026 AI for Good Global Summit" in Geneva, with multiple technological achievements selected as global winning cases: among them, the PaddlePaddle deep learning platform has helped with the digital restoration of Thangka art, enabling endangered intangible cultural heritage to gain new life through AI; the Miaoda no-code platform has greatly lowered the threshold for creation, empowering broader groups through technology inclusiveness; and Apollo Go continues to promote inclusive, barrier-free green travel, bringing the fruits of cutting-edge intelligent transportation to more ordinary people.
In addition, in advancing corporate governance and sustainable development, Baidu has continued to maintain an "AA" industry-leading position in the MSCI ESG rating, demonstrating steady ESG governance results.
As a leading AI company with a strong Internet foundation, Baidu, while deeply cultivating its fully self-developed "chip-cloud-model-agent" technology stack, has always practiced its mission of "using technology to make a complex world simpler." In the future, Baidu will continue to rely on its open-source and open AI ecosystem and leading technological innovation capabilities, working with global partners to contribute more to building a community with a shared future in cyberspace and promoting sustainable economic and social development.