AI² Robotics raises RMB 1.2 billion Series B as AlphaBot deploys across semiconductor and automotive manufacturing

AI² Robotics closed a Series B round exceeding RMB 1.2 billion, approximately $145 million, in February 2026. Investors include Baidu, state-owned high-speed rail manufacturer CRRC, fintech services provider Yusys Technologies, tyre maker Sentury Tire, and brokerage Guotai Haitong Securities. The round values AI² Robotics at more than RMB 10 billion, approximately $1.5 billion.

The founder

AI² Robotics was founded in April 2023 by Guo Yandong, a Purdue University PhD graduate who previously served as Chief Scientist at XPeng and before that at Oppo. The company employs veterans from Microsoft, Momenta, and leading research institutions, and claims five researchers listed in Stanford University's global top 2% scientists ranking. Guo's XPeng background is directly relevant: he left one of China's most advanced automotive AI organisations, which is simultaneously building its own humanoid robot programme, to start a company whose foundation is the model layer beneath the hardware. The pattern mirrors other ex-OEM founders who spotted the robotics opportunity from inside automotive AI programmes before the broader market confirmed it.

The product

AlphaBot 2 is a wheeled dual-arm robot with a humanoid upper body and a six-wheel base. It performs assembly tasks, quality inspections, and testing in industrial environments, controlled by Alpha Brain, AI² Robotics' proprietary foundation model that the company has open-sourced. Core components have accumulated more than 50,000 hours of failure-free operation, meeting industrial-grade reliability standards. AlphaBot 2 is currently deployed in semiconductor manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, biotechnology, and public services.

The model

AI² Robotics has developed GOVLA, a Global and Omni-body Vision-Language-Action model, for full-space understanding, whole-body coordination, and complex task reasoning. The company claims it was the first startup to consistently pursue and publish VLA research, doing so earlier than Physical Intelligence, and has open-sourced its VLA models from 2024 and 2025. The training infrastructure runs on a thousand-GPU compute cluster.

The investors and what they bring

Baidu's participation brings large language model and deep learning infrastructure relevant to expanding GOVLA's reasoning capabilities. CRRC is the more unusual investor; as the world's largest manufacturer of rail transit equipment and a state-owned enterprise, it provides manufacturing expertise at industrial scale and credibility with Chinese government procurement channels. AI² Robotics sees collaboration with CRRC centred on testing and manufacturing expertise; Yusys Technologies and Sentury Tire are focused on commercial deployment scenarios.

Commercial traction

AI² Robotics reported $15 million in revenue in the first half of 2025. HKC, the world's third-largest LCD panel manufacturer, placed a three-year order for more than 1,000 robots; CEO Guo estimated the contract at approximately $70 million. Guo projected tenfold annual revenue growth and said the company aims to go public within one to two years. Production is planned to expand from 1,000 units per year in 2025 to 10,000 in 2026. The Series B is the twelfth funding round in twelve months.

Maturity

The HKC order, the H1 2025 revenue figure, and the disclosed production ramp give AI² Robotics one of the stronger near-term commercial narratives among Chinese humanoid companies at this stage. The revenue projection of tenfold annual growth, the IPO timeline, and the 10,000-unit production target for 2026 are company-stated figures; none have been independently verified. No customer names beyond HKC have been disclosed.

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