(Yicai) May 10 -- The vice president of public relations at Baidu has resigned from the Chinese internet giant after she released a series of short videos portraying the tough corporate culture in big tech giants, sparking a public outcry. She is likely to move onto a new company that she formed at the end of last month.

Qu Jing has handed in her notice, a source told Yicai yesterday, citing internal software. However, the news has not yet been announced by the Beijing-based search engine giant. Qu also has not issued a statement.

Qu caused outrage among netizens earlier this month when she demonstrated her steely attitude towards her subordinates in a series of videos that she posted in her own name on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

Qu issued an apology yesterday, admitting that the video content was inappropriate and caused the outside world to have a misguided view of Baidu's corporate culture. The clips do not represent Baidu’s position and she did not seek the company’s permission before publishing them, she said. The contentious videos have all since been deleted .

Qu is likely to move onto a new internet information services company she formed in Shenzhen on April 24. Called Waka Waka Culture, the firm has a registered capital of CNY10,000 (USD1,384) and Qu holds 90 percent equity. Qu is named as the executive director and general manager.

Qu joined Baidu in August 2021 as vice president of public relations. Before that, she served as vice president of public and government affairs department at telecoms giant Huawei Technologies.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor