Li Xiang, CEO of Li Auto, stated in an internal meeting this week that the restructuring of the R&D team is aimed at addressing the new round of competition in AI. According to Chinese media reports, Li Auto is set to initiate a new round of organizational restructuring, which will involve a reshuffle of its R&D system. It is reported that Li Auto will reorganize its R&D system into three main teams: the Base Model Team, the Software Ontology Team, and the Hardware Ontology Team. The focus of this adjustment is the splitting of the autonomous driving team. Informed sources revealed that Lang Xianpeng, previously Senior Vice President of Autonomous Driving, will become the head of the Hardware Ontology Team, primarily responsible for robotics development. He will report to Ma Donghui, President of Li Auto, and will no longer be in charge of autonomous driving. The autonomous driving team will be merged into the Software Ontology Team led by Gou Xiaofei. Gou Xiaofei is the Vice President of Intelligent Space at Li Auto. Following this adjustment, he will oversee the development of both Li Auto’s intelligent cabin and intelligent driving systems. Gou Xiaofei will also report to Ma Donghui. Furthermore, Zhan Kun will lead the Base Model Team, responsible for integrating VLA and in-house developed chips. Zhan Kun will report to Xie Yan, the CTO of Li Auto. Key Milestone in Li Auto’s Assisted Driving R&D Signs of this adjustment had emerged earlier. Li Xiang, founder and CEO of Li Auto, stated during an internal meeting this week that the restructuring of the R&D team is aimed at addressing the new wave of AI competition. Even earlier, during the Q3 2025 earnings call, Li Xiang indicated that embodied AI would become Li Auto’s core competency over the next decade. He stated that the first year of embodied AI robots officially begins with the car robot, and that trillion-yuan revenue is just the starting point. This strategic shift comes against the backdrop of market pressures faced by Li Auto. In 2025, Li Auto delivered a total of 406,300 vehicles for the full year, representing a year-on-year decline of 18.81%. This made it the only major new automaker to experience negative full-year sales growth. With the pure-electric model MEGA facing market setbacks, and the i8 and i6 failing to immediately boost sales, Li Auto urgently needs to seek new growth points through organizational restructuring.