Ex-Li Auto Execs Launch Embodied AI Startup

A Li Auto-backed home-robot venture plans to ship its first product in the first half of 2027.

Former Li Auto executives Chen Wei and Zhang Xiao have officially launched Hangzhou Xieyue Intelligent Technology, an embodied AI startup focused on domestic robotics. The company was incorporated on January 29, 2026, and has completed an angel round financed by Yuanjing Capital and Li Auto. While the exact amount remains undisclosed, sources say the round is in line with peers at this stage and slightly boosted by Li Auto’s participation. Xieyue Intelligence positions itself squarely in the home environment, extending a line of AI-enabled capabilities from cars into living rooms and kitchens.

Chen Wei serves as Chairman and CTO with a 43.5% stake, and Zhang Xiao is CEO with 28.5% stake. Chen leads technology development, while Zhang spearheads product and operations. The leadership split reflects a common startup pattern in China’s robotics scene: a strong engineering core paired with commercial execution. The company currently employs more than 20 people and operates from Hangzhou, with satellite offices in Beijing and Shenzhen. The Hangzhou and Beijing teams focus on AI algorithms, models, and agent development; Shenzhen handles hardware and mass production of robotic systems. This cross-city distribution is telling about China’s integrated approach to hardware and software in robotics, leveraging Zhejiang’s AI talent pool, Beijing’s incubator ecosystem, and Shenzhen’s manufacturing muscle.

Strategically, Xieyue Intelligence’ emphasis on home scenarios aligns with Li Auto’s “family-first” product philosophy—an auto-maker built on intelligent, human-centered mobility that naturally translates to in-home automation. The pivot from car lounges to living rooms signals a broader trend: Chinese automakers are dipping into embodied AI as a way to monetize data, sensors, and control systems beyond traditional vehicular contexts. The company’s formation and the mix of investors underscore how state-aligned private capital and listed automakers are collaborating to seed a new class of consumer robotics in China.

Two practical implications stand out for supply chain and product planning. First, the ownership mix signals a hybrid model that could translate into preferential access to Li Auto’s supplier network and component ecosystems, potentially shortening time-to-market for core sensors, actuators, and edge-AI hardware. Second, by co-locating AI engineering in Hangzhou with Shenzhen’s hardware stack, Xieyue can pursue rapid iteration on embodied AI agents and the physical platforms they inhabit—an approach China’s robotics scene has increasingly pursued to close the loop between software development and mass production.

Yet execution will hinge on a few critical factors. One: the sourcing and integration of reliable mass-manufacture components in a space where margins tighten and safety requirements for home devices grow. Two: data governance and user privacy in household AI—how models are trained, updated, and shielded from misuse in a consumer environment. Three: talent retention, especially given the cross-pollination of engineers between automotive and home-robotics programs. Four: regulatory clarity around use in homes, particularly around voice, vision, and autonomous decision-making in living spaces.

In the broader context, Xieyue Intelligence’ emergence illustrates how China’s robotics ambitions are maturing from isolated lab projects into clinically deployable products with commercial backing. The combination of Li Auto’s strategic investment and Yuanjing Capital’s participation creates a hybrid ownership framework that could shape future collaboration patterns between auto-makers and home-robotics startups. If the first product lands as planned in H1 2027, it will offer a concrete signal about how quickly embodied AI can scale in Chinese households and how the country’s manufacturing backbone supports not just cars, but entire ecosystems of intelligent agents inside homes.

As the market watches for early tests of reliability, user experience, and price, companies sourcing from or competing with China should watch for how this hybrid model accelerates hardware-software integration and tightens the feedback loop from consumer use back to product design.

Sources

Former Li Auto Executives Launch Embodied AI Startup, First Product Due in H1 Next Year