By Cláudio Afonso
Publication Date: 2026-03-18 09:37:00
Nio‘s semiconductor subsidiary Shenji is actively pitching its jointly developed M97 autonomous driving chip to Leapmotor and Geely, according to an exclusive report by Chinese outlet 36Kr.
The chip unit of the Shanghai-headquartered EV maker is moving to convert billions of yuan in R&D spending into its first external revenue stream.
Nio launched its semiconductor unit in 2021 and has since developed two in-house chips: the Yangjian for LiDAR control and the Shenji NX9031 for autonomous driving computation. The latter completed tape-out in July 2024 and was first deployed on the flagship ET9 sedan in March 2025.
In November 2025, Nio had begun external supply of the NX9031 — the first deal of its kind for the EV maker.
Days later, Shenji established a joint venture with Axera and OmniVision in Chongqing with 100 million yuan in registered capital.
Nio‘s Founder and CEO William Li confirmed at the Q3 earnings call that the arrangement was “not an exclusive partnership.”
In January, Nio registered two chip subsidiaries in Hangzhou — its first chip presence outside Beijing, Shanghai, and Hefei — and signed a chip industrialisation partnership with Lontium Semiconductor.
Late last month, Shenji secured 2.257 billion yuan ($330 million) in its first external funding round at a valuation approaching 10 billion yuan.
The EV maker retains a controlling 62.7% stake.
Shenji’s Second Chip
Last week, Li
