Baidu Launches Blockchain Photo Service

The Chinese search engine Baidu launched its blockchain stock photo service to help protect intellectual property in China.

The stock photo service is named Totem and went live earlier this week.

Totem uses a blockchain network to timestamp and verify submissions for each photograph.

Baidu intends to leverage its existing resources and expertise in data curation and artificial intelligence to compare circulated images on the internet with data housed in a traceable blockchain.

Copyright information is permanently written into the blockchain.

Based on the credibility of the blockchain and irreconcilable modification, Baidu's leading artificial intelligence mapping technology is combined to ensure that the dissemination of the work is traceable, reproducible, monitorable and change the copyright of traditional pictures.

Totem isn't Baidu's first foray into the world of blockchain technology either, with its journey starting in 2017 with Project Hyperledger.

The project has a focus on developing blockchain tech across a broad range of industries, stretching from aviation to healthcare.

Leci Gou shares similarities to the famous Ethereum game CryptoKitties, which at one point accounted for 10% of the activity on Ethereum's blockchain in December last year.

Kodak's CEO Jeff Clarke remains hopeful, as he's quoted below as saying in an interview about the future relationship between blockchain technology and the photography industry.