Smartphone maker Xiaomi sets up technical committee to build an engineering culture as it pushes into artificial intelligence
- Xiaomi is seeking to capitalise on coming era of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things
- Founder Lei Jun wants to encourage an engineering culture in the company
Xiaomi, the world’s fourth-biggest smartphone maker, said it will set up a technical committee comprising 19 members as part of its efforts to transform the company into an artificial intelligence-driven company.
Cui Baoqiu, the company’s recently promoted vice-president, is chairman of the committee, which will be responsible for technical strategy, collaboration with governments and universities, recruiting and encouraging tech talent and building an engineer culture in the company, according to the company.
The smartphone maker’s founder and chief executive, Lei Jun, said in an internal meeting that “exceptional and innovative” engineers will be rewarded “millions” of yuan in cash, according to the statement.
In the meeting, Lei also said that Xiaomi plans to set up two research and development (R&D) centers in Nanjing and Wuhan with tens of thousands of researchers and engineers. The company already has one R&D center in Beijing, where it is based.
Xiaomi is facing a slowing domestic smartphone market, as it saw sales shrunk by more than 34 per cent in its home country over the fourth quarter ended last December. The technical committee follows the creation of three AI-related departments in February – new AI, big data and cloud computing.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun earned almost as much as his company last year
