On July 6, NIO Founder, Chairman, and CEO William Li announced during a livestream that the company's in-house developed chip, Shenji NX9031, is now open to the broader industry for collaboration. As the world's first automotive-grade 5nm intelligent driving chip, the NX9031 was designed to support the most advanced algorithms over the next decade while adapting to rapid algorithmic evolution. Li emphasized that opening the chip to external partners will help reduce costs and accelerate innovation across the sector.

The NX9031 offers ultra-low latency, fast response capabilities, and robust image processing performance under extreme weather and lighting conditions. It also meets the world's highest automotive safety standards. These features position it as a foundational component in future autonomous driving systems.

Originally unveiled at NIO Day 2023, the NX9031 successfully taped out in July 2024 and entered volume production with the flagship ET9 in April 2025. By July 1, the chip's application performance had met design expectations, with NIO's World Model (NWM) gradually rolling out to five vehicle models: ET9, ES6, EC6, ET5, and ET5T.

Li highlighted NIO's continued commitment to technological innovation, with RMB 60 billion in cumulative R&D investment. He also noted that NIO is the only automaker listed on three global stock exchanges and maintains a clean balance sheet by recognizing R&D expenses upfront in financial reports.

The development of the NX9031 began in 2021, driven by NIO's belief that long-lifecycle vehicles require high-performance chips capable of supporting intelligent driving experiences throughout the product's lifespan. The company avoided lightweight outsourcing models, instead building a top-tier in-house team to handle all core technologies independently.

Despite a major supplier pulling out in 2023 during a critical development phase, the NX9031 team advanced the schedule by four months. The chip achieved first-tapeout success, an uncommon feat for such complex high-end SoCs. It has since supported multi-vehicle deployment and feature over-the-air updates, earning wide praise within the industry.

According to NIO, the NX9031 delivers the performance of four NVIDIA Orin-X chips in a single unit, with superior bandwidth, safety, power efficiency, and image quality. It has significantly improved both vehicle performance and gross margins, and the team will continue exploring the chip's full potential.