AI2 manufactures wheeled humanoid robots rather than bipedal systems, trading mobility range for mechanical simplicity and durability. | Credit: Ai2 Robotics
AI² Robotics has raised about $735 million in a fresh financing round that pushed its valuation past 50 billion RMB, or about $2.8 billion U.S. The funding positions the Shenzhen-based company among the leaders of China’s fast-moving physical AI sector.
The diverse investor base in AI² Robotics’ latest funding round reflects the strategic importance now placed on the technology, drawing capital from state-backed entities, industrial corporations, and financial institutions. The company has secured commitments from government funds like the National Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund, corporate players ranging from Sino Biopharmaceutical to the Moutai Group, and financial firms like CICC Capital and GSR Ventures.
AI² Robotics develops a wheeled mobile manipulator equipped with a humanoid torso and nimble five-fingered hands. The strategic decision to use a wheeled base over legged locomotion puts the company in the minority of Chinese firms developing humanoid-style robotics.
However, the mechanism features over 34 degrees of freedom and a custom waist-leg lifting mechanism that elevates the upper torso through a range of positions. While the robot can’t climb stairs or traverse rugged terrain, it is significantly cheaper to produce, mechanically durable, and faces much lower regulatory hurdles when deploying into public spaces.
AI2 Robotics builds Alpha Brain VLA model
Hardware is only half the battle. Every AlphaBot operates on Alpha Brain, AI² Robotics’ proprietary vision-language-action (VLA) model. This foundation software handles real-time spatial reasoning, environmental understanding, and complex, multi-step task planning.
Instead of waiting for a distant consumer future, AI² Robotics is actively pushing AlphaBot 2 into practical, structured environments where its wheel-and-arm layout shines: logistics, manufacturing, biotech, public service, and retail settings.
The company is targeting industrial applications and is avoiding the hype of promising consumer or household applications any time soon.
The funding announcement comes on the heels of other recent funding events in the humanoid market, including the pending IPO by Agility, funding rounds for Apptronik and Neura, and the acquisition of Kinisi Robotics by Bear Robotics.
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