Nio CEO William Li emphasizes driver safety over automation in autonomous driving debate
Nio founder and CEO William Li stated that the primary purpose of intelligent driving should be to enhance safety and reduce driver fatigue rather than replacing human workers in the transport sector.
Speaking at the 2026 World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Nio CEO William Li pushed back against the industry narrative that the ultimate goal of autonomous driving is to replace human taxi and ride-hailing drivers. Instead, he argued that the technology should be judged by its ability to assist drivers and lower the global traffic death toll, which exceeds 1.16 million annually.
Li highlighted internal data showing that Nio users saw a 38.4% reduction in safety-related loss during the first half of 2026, suggesting that human-machine collaborative driving provides significant safety advantages. He reiterated that the goal is to alleviate the mental burden on drivers who collectively spend over 1.5 billion hours behind the wheel daily worldwide.
Beyond safety, Li addressed the commercial outlook for the sector. He noted that as autonomous driving enters a new phase, companies must demonstrate clear value to the user. He asserted that if customers are not willing to pay for automated features, the technology has failed to create meaningful market value, regardless of its performance metrics.