BEIJING - Chinese artificial intelligence giant Baidu has upgraded its research institute to speed up industrial application of AI technology.

Baidu Research announced Friday that it has set up two more labs focusing on business intelligence, robotics and autonomous driving while bringing three more top AI scientists on board.

The company's top AI research platform now has five labs and seven globally renowned AI scientists.

The expansion of Baidu Research is the start of a new journey for Baidu to focus on frontier fundamental research and commercial application of AI, according to Wang Haifeng, head of the institute and Baidu vice president.

Baidu has been investing heavily in AI technology and application in the past few years, with major breakthroughs already made in autonomous driving and smart voice interaction systems.

Baidu Chairman and CEO Robin Li made it to the cover of the latest edition of Time magazine, which said he and the company are "helping China win the 21st century" with increasing investment in research and development and an edge in AI.