Chinese EV manufacturer founded in November 2014 by William Li, headquartered in Shanghai, listed on NYSE in 2018. Exploring humanoid robotics with an internal development unit and testing robotic inspectors at its F2 plant in Hefei, leveraging autonomous driving AI.
NIO is a Chinese premium electric vehicle manufacturer founded in 2014 by William Li. Best known for its intelligent EV platform and extensive battery-swapping network, the company combines electric mobility, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing technologies to build software-defined vehicles and automated production systems. NIO is expanding into robotics by deploying humanoid robots within its manufacturing operations and extending its AI capabilities toward embodied intelligence. The company has also filed trademarks that broaden the scope of its NOMI AI assistant to humanoid applications, reflecting its ambition to integrate intelligent robots into future industrial and consumer ecosystems.
NIO (NextEV) was founded in November 2014 by William Li, who invested his entire ~$150 million fortune. Backed by Tencent, Temasek, and Sequoia Capital with $2 billion+ pre-IPO funding. The EP9 set a Nürburgring record in 2016.
NIO went public on NYSE in September 2018, raising $1 billion. After near-collapse in 2019-2020, a critical ~$1 billion rescue from Hefei city government saved the company.
Robotics ambitions emerged in 2023 with a humanoid robot team, testing robots on factory lines for quality inspection. In 2025, NIO registered trademarks extending NOMI to humanoid robots.
NIO's 3,700+ battery-swap stations and 90 million+ cumulative swaps position it to potentially provide energy solutions for humanoid robots.
