Xue Gao, CEO and managing partner at Baidu Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2026 Powerlist.
Under Xue Gao, chief executive and managing partner since 2020, Baidu Ventures has evolved from a Baidu‑adjacent investment arm into one of China’s most specialised frontier AI funds.
The firm now concentrates almost exclusively on early‑stage artificial intelligence, backing over 200 startups across foundational models, robotics, computational science and next‑generation interfaces. As of April 2026, BV manages multiple funds with more than $700m in assets, with roughly 90% of its investments made before series A. Its exits this year include Zelog Tech, acquired by Cainiao Network for $2bn.
The past year has also reshaped BV’s strategic identity.
China’s post‑DeepSeek cycle forced Gao to publicly address why the fund had not backed the country’s most celebrated large‑model breakout. His explanation — that DeepSeek’s model business had not been spun out for independent financing — mattered less than the broader implication: BV’s mandate could no longer be defined simply as early access to Baidu’s AI ecosystem. Instead, it needed to become a fast‑moving pattern‑recognition engine for China’s new generation of AI founders, complementing Baidu’s internal investment unit overseen by chief executive and co‑founder Robin Li.
Recent deals reflect this shift. BV participated in ShengShu Technology’s nearly RMB2bn ($293m) raise in April, backed Tripo AI/VAST’s $50m series A in March and invested at seed stage in Unbounded Dynamics.
These are not scattershot AI bets. ShengShu is building multimodal and “world model” architectures; Tripo converts prompts and images into 3D assets and is positioning itself at the intersection of generative AI and physical‑world modelling; Unbounded Dynamics focuses on robotics operational intelligence.
Together, they illustrate Gao’s push to move BV beyond pure software into the layers where generative models meet spatial computing, robotics and industrial deployment.
Gao leads this strategy alongside CFO and managing partner Jinling Zhang, whose stewardship has helped maintain BV’s independence while keeping it strategically relevant to Baidu. Their combined influence ensures Baidu Ventures functions as a market‑sensing instrument for frontier AI — close enough to Baidu to inform its long‑term roadmap, yet sufficiently autonomous to invest wherever China’s next wave of AI innovation emerges.
The GCV Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
Here’s a snapshot of their recent deals:
