Shanghai-based AI startup StepFun (阶跃星辰) has named Yin Qi (印奇), chairman of Qianli Technology (千里科技), as its new chairman and signalled an ambitious push to marry large foundational models with end-user devices. Yin will lead strategy and technical direction alongside CEO Jiang Daxin (姜大昕), chief scientist Zhang Xiangyu (张祥雨) and CTO Zhu Yibo (朱亦博), forming a compact leadership team positioned to accelerate productisation across a range of consumer and automotive scenarios.
The company disclosed a B+ financing round exceeding RMB 5 billion (roughly US$700–800 million), backed by a mix of state-backed funds, industry investors and strategic technology partners. Participating investors include the Shangguotou Lead Fund, China Life equity vehicles, municipal and district venture funds, hardware-makers such as Huaqin Technology, and returning strategic backers including Tencent, Qiming Venture Partners and Wuyuan Capital. StepFun says the new capital will be channelled into base-model research and building a "global top-tier base model" while fast-tracking commercial deployments of AI on phones, cars, wearables and embodied robotics.
The deal and executive move crystallise a wider pattern in China’s AI ecosystem: a pivot from purely cloud-centred capabilities to integrated AI+terminal offerings that embed foundation models into hardware. That approach answers two business imperatives. First, device-level integration creates clearer commercial routes to monetisation—automakers, smartphone brands and IoT vendors can pay for tailored on-device intelligence. Second, close partnerships with industrial and municipal funds and ODMs lower barriers to scale by tying model development to manufacturing and distribution channels.
The opportunity is large but fraught. Building and training competitive base models demands sustained capital, premium talent and access to vast compute; competing with domestic giants such as Baidu, Alibaba and Huawei—and with international cloud providers—will be resource intensive. Regulatory constraints, data access, and potential frictions from export controls on advanced chips add strategic uncertainty. Still, StepFun’s combination of heavy funding, hardware allies and a leadership figure with Qianli’s industrial connections makes it a company to watch as China pursues commercially viable, device-centred AI at scale.