Lu, who holds a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon and has over 40 U.S. patents in his name, joins a team that includes former Coursera chairman Andrew Ng, who is chief scientist at the Baidu Research center in Silicon Valley.

“Dr. Lu possesses a wealth of leadership and management experience, and is a leading authority in the area of artificial intelligence,” Baidu chairman and CEO Robin Li said in a statement.

“To achieve our goals, especially in artificial intelligence, which is a key strategic focus for the next decade, we will need to continue attracting the best global talent. With Dr. Lu on board, we are confident that our strategy will be executed smoothly and Baidu will become a world-class technology company and global leader in AI,” Li added.