Li Auto's self-driving head to leave after brief role in humanoid robot effort, report says

Li Auto's autonomous driving architect Lang Xianpeng is set to depart after transitioning to lead the company's humanoid robot unit two weeks ago.Lang was one of the primary contributors to Li Auto's advancement from mid-tier to industry-leading capabilities in smart driving.(File photo shows a Li Mega MPV. Image credit: CnEVPost)Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI, HKG: 2015) autonomous driving chief Lang Xianpeng will depart after a brief stint leading the company's humanoid robot unit, according to a new report.Zhan Yifei, the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker's senior autonomous driving algorithm expert, will head the humanoid robot unit reporting to president Ma Donghui, LatePost reported on Friday.Lang's future plans remain undisclosed, LatePost noted. As a key figure in Li Auto's autonomous driving division, his departure represents a loss for the EV maker. Join us on Telegram or Google News Li Auto established its humanoid robot division two weeks ago, appointing Lang as head while Zhan also transferred from the autonomous driving team, according to LatePost.Li Auto's robotics team has developed preliminary hardware and software technologies. Following the team's formation last month, Lang and Zhan have frequently traveled to understand industry dynamics.Lang joined Li Auto's autonomous driving division as its first employee in January 2018, rising from R&D Director to senior vice president over eight years, the report noted.Previously, Lang held roles at Baidu including senior project manager, participating in projects like Baidu Maps and autonomous driving.During his tenure at Li Auto, Lang spearheaded multiple initiatives within the smart driving division. In 2021, he led the transition from vendor-provided solutions to in-house development, delivering Li Auto's in-house developed highway NOA (Navigation on Autopilot) project in under 90 days, according to LatePost.From 2023 to the first half of 2024, Li Auto launched and optimized its city NOA feature, upgrading it from a solution heavily reliant on high-definition maps to a map-free solution.Lang facilitated two pivotal decisions in Li Auto's shift toward in-house autonomous driving capabilities: transitioning to end-to-end technology in 2024 and adopting the Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model in 2025.In October 2024, Li Auto's "End-to-End + VLM" solution entered mass production, elevating its smart driving experience to the industry's top tier, the report noted.In September 2025, Li Auto rolled out the VLA solution to all vehicles.Late last month, another domestic media outlet Leiphone reported that Lang would become head of hardware operations, primarily overseeing robotics R&D, and would no longer be responsible for autonomous driving.The new robotics business head, Zhan, joined Li Auto's autonomous driving team in August 2021, overseeing critical technical modules including BEV (Bird's Eye View) algorithms, world model algorithm architecture and software, as well as AI evaluation and operations.Prior to Li Auto, he worked on autonomous driving R&D at Baidu and Huawei. Li Auto CEO reaffirms AI focus in internal meeting amid sluggish sales But employees are more eager to hear about plans to reverse the sales slump.