NIO founder William Li announced during the Q4 2025 earnings call that Shenji's second advanced intelligent chip has successfully taped out and is moving toward mass production. The company is now targeting external clients beyond its own vehicles, with early interest from automakers and robotics firms.
Shenji raised over RMB 2.2 billion in its first funding round this February, reaching a valuation near RMB 10 billion. The capital supports development of next-gen autonomous driving chips and expansion into embodied intelligence markets.
The first chip, Shenji NX9031, remains China's leading automotive chip. Built on 5nm process with 50 billion transistors, one chip delivers performance comparable to four Nvidia Orin X units. Over 150,000 units have shipped since 2024, powering all NIO models.
ICgoodFind : NIO's Shenji moves beyond in-house supply, signaling serious foundry ambitions in automotive and robotics AI chips.
