(Yicai) Oct. 9 -- The chief information officer of Baidu has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of Xiaodu Technology, a leading developer of conversational artificial intelligence systems and smart screens under the Chinese tech giant, Yicai learned.

Xiaodu’s CEO Jing Kun resigned, and Baidu’s CIO Li Ying will replace him, according to a Baidu internal letter obtained by Yicai.

The resignation of Jing came like a bolt from the blue, as the former executive was expected to attend and deliver a speech at an AI forum organized by Baidu this month. Yicai tried to contact Jing to ask him about his future plans but received no response.

Jing joined Baidu in 2014. He was named general manager of Xiaodu in March 2018, when the company was established. In May 2019, Jing was appointed vice president of Baidu, leading the firm’s research and development, operation, sales, and business of related products. Before joining Baidu, he was the chief R&D director of Microsoft China.

Li has been working for Baidu for 19 years. She had been head of the company’s natural language processing, AI technology ecology, and Baidu Maps businesses at different stages of her career. Large models constitute a significant opportunity in the field of corporate office, is expected to bring profound changes, Li said in an interview in August.

Li’s takeover means that the continuous improvements of the large model technology will boost the growth of smart hardware businesses such as Xiaodu, industry insiders told Yicai.

Xiaodu completed its first independent financing round in September 2020. Its last fundraiser was a Series B+ round in January, which valued the company at about CNY35.5 billion (USD4.9 billion). Last year, Xiaodu ranked first in China by shipments of smart speakers and screens, according to data from Canalys and International Data Corporation.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione