Lead engineer departs Baidu in latest revamp of self

Baidu is reportedly ramping up its efforts to combine the research and development teams for safety-based driver assistance products and more advanced automated driving technology, which is currently under the purview of Wang Liang, a chief architect at Baidu's intelligent driving group (IDG). People close to the company also told Chinese media outlet 36Kr on Wednesday that Guo Yang, another chief architect who led the roll out of Baidu's automated valet parking system back in 2021, has left the company. Baidu responded to 36Kr by saying its intelligent car business is unaffected and has continued to operate as normal. The tech giant is rushing to release the third-generation of its Apollo Navigation Pilot software later this year, which is expected to help vehicles navigate urban environments semi-autonomously. [36Kr, in Chinese]