It is reported that Chen Long, the head of the VLA (Vision-Language-Action) team within Xiaomi Auto’s in-house intelligent driving division, is set to leave the company; his next career move may be in the field of embodied AI.
A highly accomplished returnee talent, Chen is well-known for his work in the R&D of cutting-edge intelligent driving technologies. Following the industry’s shift toward end-to-end systems, Xiaomi Auto strategically recruited him—with Lei Jun personally involved in the hiring process—to spearhead this technological direction.
After joining Xiaomi Auto, Chen led the team responsible for VLA development; within just over a year, he successfully developed the VLA model and brought it to mass production in vehicles. While this initially appeared to be an ideal match for both parties, all good things must eventually come to an end.
A trend has emerged in the intelligent driving industry: as major players advance from end-to-end systems to cutting-edge technologies like VLAs and world models, they frequently overhaul their teams with each technological iteration. The completion of a new technology project often marks a cycle where veteran team members depart and new talent arrives to tackle the next technological roadmap.
For leaders who have successfully delivered cutting-edge technology projects, there is no shortage of opportunities; they can join embodied AI startups as co-founders or launch their own ventures.
Chen Long previously served as a Staff Scientist at Wayve. He joined Xiaomi Auto in March 2025 as the Technical Lead for Intelligent Driving VLA, reporting to Ye Hangjun, the head of Xiaomi Auto’s intelligent driving business. He was primarily responsible for the R&D and deployment of Xiaomi Auto’s intelligent driving VLA large model (XLA), driving the evolution of Xiaomi’s driver-assistance systems from “data-driven” to “cognition-driven.”