Baidu's shares [HKG: 9888] rose 2.3 percent as of 9.40 a.m. despite the Chinese tech giant reporting its net profit plunged 55% to CNY3.4 billion (USD507 million) in the first quarter from a year ago, while revenue fell 1% to CNY32.1 billion (USD4.7 billion). The firm's AI income exceeded half of the general business, CEO Robin Li said at an earnings conference call.