# B+ round

China’s StepFun Taps Qianli Chief and Raises >RMB5bn to Push Foundation Models into Devices

StepFun has appointed Qianli Technology chairman Yin Qi as its own chairman and closed a B+ round exceeding RMB 5 billion to accelerate development of foundation models and commercialise AI on devices. The funding and leadership change underscore a strategic push in China to embed large models into cars, smartphones, wearables and robots through close hardware partnerships.