- Nio‘s head of AI platform, head of world model, and head of smart driving products have recently left the company, according to a local media report.
- Nio said that organizational and personnel adjustments are aimed at better iterating the world model 2.0 version.
Multiple executives from Nio Inc’s (NYSE: NIO) smart driving team have reportedly departed recently as the electric vehicle (EV) maker continues to adjust its organizational structure.
Bai Yuli, head of the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform, departed just before the recently concluded National Day holiday, local media outlet Yiou reported today.
Bai joined Nio in August 2020 as head of the AI platform, reporting to Ren Shaoqing, vice president of autonomous driving.
Since March 2023, he also served as head of Nio’s cloud engineering department with the title of senior director.
Bai’s responsibilities included infrastructure development for smart driving R&D, providing cloud computing power and data closed-loop support for algorithm iterations, Yiou noted.
Besides Bai, Nio’s head of world model Ma Ningning and smart driving product lead Harry Wong have also recently departed, according to the report.
When approached for comment, Nio said that the company recently restructured its smart driving department to enhance absorption of cutting-edge general AI technologies and deliver smart driving experiences efficiently, rapidly, and with high quality, according to the report.
On September 20, another domestic media outlet, Leiphone, reported that Ren had joined the AI laboratory at the University of Science and Technology of China while continuing to hold his position at Nio.
Ren subsequently confirmed this development, stating it would not impact his work at Nio.
Organizational and personnel adjustments are being made to better iterate the world model 2.0 version, a Nio representative told Yiou.
Nio unveiled the Nio World Model (NWM) at its Nio IN 2024 tech day event on July 27, 2024, claiming it as the world’s first smart driving world model.
On May 30, the company began rolling out the first version of NWM to vehicles, saying it delivers a comprehensive upgrade to smart driving assistance capabilities.
Following the industry-first autonomous parking lot navigation feature introduced in May’s initial NWM release, Nio will continue unlocking the architectural potential of the world model, the company said in Yiou’s report today.
William Li said the smart driving team won’t be laying off employees on a large scale, but there are projects that will be canceled, according to local media.
