The declaration came as the massive search engine company posted third-quarter figures showing that sales had risen to CYN 32.5bn ($4.6bn), well ahead of analysts forecasts of CYN 31.8bn. Baidu's stock price rose by 3.5% as the news was released. In an earnings call, Dou Shen, Baidu's executive vice president, was remarkably blunt, saying the company's cloud computing and AI business "does not rely too much on high advanced chips." Rubbing it in further, Dou went so far as to claim that the actions of the US and other western companies have had "little impact" on China and have actually helped to increase market opportunities for domestic chip companies. "Our AI business will eventually benefit from these opportunities," he added and claimed western sanctions had concentrated Chinese minds to the point that the PRC's drive to be self-sufficient in microprocessors is accelerating very quickly.