Nio invests in new embodied intelligence company founded by its chief AI officer

During a company-wide meeting on August 24, NIO CEO Li Bin announced that Ren Shaoqing, the company's chief officer for intelligent driving, has founded a new independent company focused on embodied intelligence and physical AI foundational models. NIO will provide strategic investment and collaborate with the new venture. According to a participant in the meeting, the session was brief and did not mention any changes to the organizational structure. Ren will continue to lead NIO's intelligent driving business. The newly established company has already been registered and is valued at a unicorn level. Ren Shaoqing, born in 1988, holds a PhD from the University of Science and Technology of China and Microsoft's Asia Research Institute. He joined Momenta in 2018 as a partner and head of R&D, and joined NIO in August 2020, later becoming the chief expert for autonomous driving and vice president. In addition to his role at NIO, Ren will join the University of Science and Technology of China in September 2025 as a professor, doctoral supervisor, and director of the Institute for General Artificial Intelligence, with research interests including artificial intelligence, world models, embodied intelligence, deep learning, and AI for Science.