Shanghai-based massive mannequin startup StepFun introduced on January 26 that Yin Qi has formally assumed the position of chairman, overseeing the corporate’s strategic path and know-how roadmap. A veteran AI entrepreneur, Yin brings in depth expertise in know-how evolution, business technique, and organizational management. He’ll work alongside CEO Jiang Daxin, Chief Scientist Zhang Xiangyu, and CTO Zhu Yibo to drive basis mannequin R&D and advance StepFun’s “AI + terminals” commercialization technique.
StepFun additionally disclosed that it has just lately accomplished a B+ financing spherical exceeding RMB 50 billion (roughly USD 7.0 billion), setting a brand new report for the most important single fundraising in China’s large-model sector over the previous 12 months. Buyers within the spherical embrace China Life Personal Fairness Funding, Pudong Enterprise Capital, Xuhui Capital, Wuxi Liangxi Fund, Xiamen ITG, and Huaqin Expertise, alongside continued participation from present shareholders reminiscent of Tencent, Qiming Enterprise Companions, and 5Y Capital.
The brand new capital shall be used to additional develop basis fashions, construct world-class base fashions, and speed up the rollout of StepFun’s AI + terminal technique.
StepFun has lengthy dedicated to a twin concentrate on basis fashions and AI-enabled units. Leveraging proprietary algorithms and system-level capabilities, the corporate claims international management in language fashions, multimodal fashions, and edge–cloud collaborative architectures. Its R&D framework follows a “1+2” core matrix: sustained funding in massive language basis fashions to push intelligence limits—having launched three generations to this point, with Step 3 attaining industry-leading inference effectivity—and parallel breakthroughs in full-modality fashions (together with speech and imaginative and prescient) and edge–cloud integration to allow extra proactive, interactive engagement with the bodily world.
In December 2025, StepFun launched what it described because the {industry}’s first really deployable open-source GUI mannequin, supporting smartphones, autos, and PCs by means of edge–cloud collaboration. In January 2026, its speech mannequin Step Audio R1.1 ranked first globally on the authoritative Synthetic Evaluation leaderboard.
On the applying facet, StepFun is quickly closing the business loop in core shopper situations reminiscent of smartphones and vehicles. In line with firm insiders, API requires its terminal-based agent companies grew by almost 170% for 3 consecutive quarters by the top of 2025. In smartphones, StepFun has established deep partnerships with round 60% of China’s main handset manufacturers, together with OPPO, Honor, and ZTE, with its fashions pre-installed on over 42 million units, serving almost 20 million day by day customers.
Within the automotive sector, StepFun has partnered with Qianli Expertise and Geely to launch the {industry}’s first AgentOS sensible cockpit powered by an end-to-end voice mannequin. The mass-produced Geely Galaxy M9 recorded near 40,000 models in gross sales inside three months of launch and has already entered abroad markets. StepFun expects its massive fashions to be deployed in over a million autos this yr.
As China’s large-model {industry} shifts from a “hundred-model race” to a head-to-head competitors amongst leaders, the profitable financing spherical and Yin Qi’s appointment mark a twin improve in capital and governance—offering StepFun with crucial momentum for its subsequent part of progress.
Supply: IPOzaozhidao
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