AI² Robotics raises $735M at $3B valuation for wheeled humanoid robots - The Robot Report
AI² Robotics has secured approximately $735 million in a new financing round, lifting its valuation to over 50 billion RMB (roughly $2.8 billion USD). The Shenzhen-based company’s latest capital raise underscores its rising prominence in China’s rapidly evolving physical AI sector.
The investor consortium is notably diverse, reflecting the strategic importance governments and industries now place on embodied AI. Commitments came from state-backed entities such as the National Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund, alongside corporate investors including Sino Biopharmaceutical and the Moutai Group. Financial institutions like CICC Capital and GSR Ventures also participated.
Wheeled design trades terrain for cost and reliability
AI² Robotics develops the AlphaBot—a wheeled mobile manipulator featuring a humanoid upper torso and dexterous five-fingered hands. By opting for a wheeled base instead of legged locomotion, the company takes a less common path among Chinese humanoid-robot developers.
The robot boasts over 34 degrees of freedom and a custom waist-leg lifting mechanism that allows the torso to adjust through a range of heights. Although it cannot climb stairs or traverse rough terrain, the wheeled design is significantly cheaper to produce, mechanically more durable, and faces lower regulatory hurdles for deployment in public spaces.
Alpha Brain VLA model powers real-world tasks
Hardware is only part of the equation. Every AlphaBot runs on Alpha Brain, AI² Robotics’ proprietary vision-language-action (VLA) model. This foundational software handles real-time spatial reasoning, environmental understanding, and complex multi-step task planning.
Rather than chasing speculative consumer applications, AI² Robotics is deploying the AlphaBot 2 into structured environments where its wheel-and-arm configuration excels: logistics, manufacturing, biotech, public service, and retail settings. The company is explicitly targeting industrial use cases and avoiding near-term consumer or household hype.
Context of a booming humanoid market
The funding announcement arrives amid a wave of activity in the humanoid robotics space. Recent developments include Agility Robotics’ pending IPO, funding rounds for Apptronik and Neura, and Bear Robotics’ acquisition of Kinisi Robotics. AI² Robotics’ latest raise positions it as a key contender in China’s push to lead physical AI innovation.
The source for this article is https://www.therobotreport.com/ai%c2%b2-robotics-raises-735m-3b-valuation-wheeled-humanoid-robots/.