Industry dynamics

Wu Xinzhou confirms joining Nvidia as Xpeng expects deeper partnership with US chip giant

Publishtime:1970-01-01 08:00:00 Views:27

The next opportunity is at AIGC and auto, where Xpeng's deeper collaboration with Nvidia is about to begin, the EV maker's CEO said.

Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) confirmed earlier this month that its vice president of autonomous driving, Wu Xinzhou, had tendered his resignation, but didn't disclose anything about his new job. Now, Wu confirms that he's joining Nvidia, confirming earlier rumors.

"Turns out Huang has a full 2-hour sharing the day after each earnings report to summarize and look ahead, and often confesses his specific mistakes for the quarter, which is not easy!" He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng, said in Weibo today.

Mr. He's reference to Huang refers to Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of US chip giant Nvidia.

"The next opportunity is at AIGC and AUTO, and our deeper collaboration is about to begin," Mr. He said.

Mr. He didn't say anything more, but shared an image showing him posing with Wu and also Huang. It was unclear where the photo was taken.

(From left to right: He Xiaopeng, Wu Xinzhou, Jensen Huang.)

Wu later retweeted Mr. He's Weibo post and said that tomorrow would be his first-day starting work at Nvidia.

"(They are) two important men in my life. Tomorrow is my first day at NV, and thanks to Xiaopeng for personally sending me to Huang. According to Huang, I will still be working for Xiaopeng next, just not on his payroll," Wu wrote.

Wu joined Xpeng in March 2019 and has been a key contributor in helping the EV maker get a solid smart driving label.

Earlier this month, rumors that Wu was leaving Xpeng and joining Nvidia caused Xpeng's Hong Kong-traded stock to plummet.

Xpeng confirmed on August 2 that Wu would be leaving and said that Li Liyun, the company's senior director of the autonomous driving team, would be replacing Wu.

Dr. Li was the leader of the XNGP (Navigation Guided Pilot) program team and has been preparing for the transition for a long time, Xpeng's statement at the time said.

Mr. He said today that Xpeng will begin a deeper collaboration with Nvidia, but did not mention any details.

Notably, local media outlet Red Plan X reported yesterday that Xpeng was in talks with Nvidia about customizing a self-driving chip to balance performance and cost.

Xpeng rumored to be in talks with Nvidia for customized autonomous driving chip