I haven't seen any comment or quotes yet from Baidu (please correct me if I'm wring!). Amicable high profile departures like this are almost always coordinated between the person leaving and the company, with joint statements. Not saying it's not amicable, but I do find that, and the fact he's not sharing his next move, a little odd.
I also saw a FB thread that seemed to suggest this may have been a surprise to some of his colleagues. Take that with a grain of salt though - I don't know the people on the thread and they were vague. I just got the sense it was news to them.
“Andrew joined Baidu because of our shared pursuit for the future of AI,” stated Baidu on its official Weibo account, China’s answer to Twitter. “We still have this goal, which is to push forward the development of AI and make life in the future more beautiful.”
“Despite our regrets, we send our thanks and blessings! We wish Andrew even greater success in the future, and hope all goes well!”
High-profile departures are hard to read because leadership teams are usually (and should be) paranoid about the effect on morale. Also, as a general rule, clean breaks with little to no warning are easier to digest for the rest of the company rather than long, drawn out affairs where gossip can be given life through dint of "overhearing" the subject (almost incorrectly or out of context) in the hallway.
I also saw a FB thread that seemed to suggest this may have been a surprise to some of his colleagues. Take that with a grain of salt though - I don't know the people on the thread and they were vague. I just got the sense it was news to them.