Credit: Visual China

BEIJING, November 7 (TMTPost) – Baidu's autonomous driving division has announced a new round of personnel changes.

Baidu announced in internal emails a series of promotions and job rotations on Monday. Its Vice President and General Manager of the Autonomous Driving Business Unit, Wang Yunpeng, was promoted to Group Vice President and appointed as the head of Baidu's Intelligent Driving Group (IDG), reporting directly to the CEO.

The previous head of the business, Group Senior Vice President Li Zhenyu, will no longer serve as the head of IDG but will take on the role of CEO's assistant and chairman of the Group's Technology Ethics Committee, also reporting to the CEO.

Since its establishment as a separate department in 2015, Baidu's autonomous driving unit has gradually transitioned from the periphery to the core of the company. Nevertheless, the autonomous driving industry is entering a new phase, and large-scale models are gaining more prominence nowadays, with Baidu’s “Wenxin Yiyan” thrusting into the spotlight.

Taking over from Li is Wang, a seasoned Baidu employee with 11 years of experience at the company.

Before joining Baidu, Wang, who graduated from Beihang University, worked at Sony Ericsson, where he was responsible for smartphone software development and project management.

Since joining Baidu in 2012, Wang has held various positions within the company and served as the Director of Baidu's Autonomous Driving Technology Department until 2018.

Wang is best known at Baidu for his association with Luobo Kuaipao, an autonomous ride-hailing platform.

In April 2021, Wang was promoted to Vice President at Baidu and took on the responsibility for the company's autonomous driving business. Shortly afterward, Baidu launched its autonomous ride-hailing platform, Luobo Kuaipao. In 2022, the platform initiated commercial trials in Hefei, Anhui province, providing autonomous driving ride-hailing services to the public.

Luobo Kuaipao has since become a crucial element in Baidu's exploration of commercializing autonomous driving. According to the company’s latest financial report, in the second quarter of 2023, the platform provided a total of 714,000 ride-sharing services, representing a 149% year-on-year increase. By the first half of 2023, it had provided a cumulative total of 3.3 million ride-sharing services to the public.

In addition to software development, under Wang's leadership, the Baidu autonomous driving team has developed the sixth-generation mass-produced autonomous vehicle, Apollo RT6, and managed to reduce the manufacturing cost to 250,000 yuan. According to the original plan, the vehicle was expected to be deployed on Luobo Kuaipao in 2023.

However, since its release at the 2022 Baidu World Conference, there had been no further updates on the vehicle. Recently, news emerged that Apollo RT6 had officially entered the list of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in September and was about to go public.

Based on information from the 375th batch of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Product Announcements, a vehicle with the same appearance as Apollo RT6 had completed the declaration, with the manufacturing company being Jiangling Group New Energy Automobile (JMEV) and the brand being Yichi.

Behind the Adjustments

Since the beginning of this year, Baidu's IDG has seen multiple personnel changes.

On June 7, the news of the departure of Baidu's Chief Product Architect, Guo Yang, circulated widely. Shortly after that, the General Manager of IDG's Intelligent Automotive Business Unit, Chu Ruisong, also chose to leave Baidu and join Amazon Web Services as a leader in the Greater China region.

Additionally, at the end of June, Baidu's IDG initiated a broader organizational restructuring. The intelligent traffic business unit, which focuses on vehicle and road collaboration, was transferred to the intelligent cloud business group.

After the organizational restructuring in 2021, Baidu's IDG consisted of three main business segments: Robotaxi, Intelligent Traffic Business, and Intelligent Automotive Business.

The decision to "shed" ACE from IDG was likely due to the need for further organizational streamlining and difficulties in the development of vehicle-road collaboration. Earlier this year, there were reports that Baidu's ACE department was undergoing significant layoffs, and all employees at the department did not receive year-end bonuses.

Robotaxi and the Intelligent Automotive Business are also facing their own challenges.

For Robotaxi, Baidu had previously stated its goal of deploying Luobo Kuaipao in 65 cities by 2025 and 100 cities by 2030. But it seems that they are currently confronted with great obstacles due to policy and technical restrictions.

Intelligent Automotive Business, which carries a significant revenue responsibility, also faces challenges.

Weima, the only vehicle incorporating Baidu's ANP+AVP technology, has faced operational difficulties. BYD also canceled its cooperation with Baidu ANP2, opting for in-house development.

The frequent changes seem to indicate that Baidu's autonomous driving unit is undergoing significant transformation.

In 2015, Wang Jin, then the Vice President of Technology at Baidu, led the establishment of the Autonomous Driving Business Unit (L4 Business Unit) and served as its General Manager. In 2016, Baidu's self-driving vehicles began road testing. However, around the end of 2016, the unit experienced a talent outflow.

On March 1, 2017, Wang announced in an internal meeting that he would resign from the position of General Manager of the Autonomous Driving Business Unit due to personal and family reasons.

Baidu's COO at the time, Lu Qi, succeeded him. After the take-over, Lu integrated several core technologies to establish the Intelligent Driving Business Group. Also in 2017, Baidu publicly announced the Apollo program.

Li Zhenyu took over the Baidu IDG from Lu during this period. Before that, he had worked at Baidu for ten years, serving in various roles.

It was during this time that autonomous driving became one of Baidu's core businesses.

Baidu had made substantial investments in autonomous driving. According to the company’s financial reports, it had invested over 150 billion yuan in research and development since it began researching autonomous driving in 2013.

However, despite its size and resources, revenue remains a very real challenge. When looking at both Chinese and international L4 autonomous driving players, the main reasons for failure were the inability to implement the technology and a lack of self-sustaining capabilities.

While autonomous driving was facing challenges, the rise of large-scale models provided Baidu with a new opportunity to develop mainstream products.

According to reports, in the internal email regarding these personnel changes, Baidu emphasized its hope that Wang would lead IDG to continue its efforts, leveraging the company's deep expertise and years of investment in AI. Baidu aims to pursue technological innovation, build capacity platforms, and accelerate commercialization.

Autonomous driving is an industry that requires long-term commitment, and the integration of large-scale models into this field may not yield immediate results. It will require more observation and patience.