Baidu’s smart device unit CEO resigns to start his own venture ahead of key annual event

The head of the smart device subsidiary of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) giant Baidu has resigned from all his roles at the unit due to “personal reasons”, according to an internal notice from the company.

Jing Kun, CEO of Xiaodu Technology, has reportedly teamed up with Zhu Kaihua, his chief technology officer, to start a new venture, according to a report by social media outlet AI Technology Commentary on Saturday.

Baidu vice-president and chief information officer Li Ying will assume Xiaodu’s CEO role, effective immediately, and will report directly to Baidu co-founder, chairman, and CEO Robin Li, according to a Baidu internal notice issued on Saturday that was seen by the South China Morning Post.

Jing’s departure comes less than 10 days before Baidu World, the company’s annual technology event, where the Beijing-based tech firm was expected to provide updates on its much-hyped ChatGPT-like service Ernie Bot and other new AI-based applications.

Jing, designated as one of the keynote speakers at Baidu World 2023 with Robin Li and other Baidu senior executives, had been scheduled to present on the topic of smart living “in the era of foundation model”.

Jing joined Baidu in 2014, focusing on research and development of interactive online search models based on dialogue and images. In 2018, he was promoted to SLG general manager, overseeing the company’s smart device development, and was further elevated to Baidu vice-president in May 2019, reporting directly to Robin Li.

He was tapped to lead Xiaodu Technology after the Baidu subsidiary was established to speed up the company’s smart device business, which included several product lines such as smart speakers and displays, supported by a Baidu’s in-house-developed operating system.