- Another company founded by EngineAI's founder was the predecessor to Xpeng's robotics unit.
- Li is another key autonomous driving talent who is transitioning to the embodied AI industry.
Former Xpeng autonomous driving head Li Liyun will join Chinese robotics startup EngineAI Robotics, marking yet another key autonomous driving talent transitioning to the embodied AI industry.
Local media outlet LatePost reported the news on Wednesday, citing multiple independent sources.
EngineAI, founded in October 2023 by serial entrepreneur Zhao Tongyang, just announced a $200 million Series B funding round on April 9.
The funding pushed the startup's valuation past 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion), co-led by Henan Investment Group and manufacturing giant Luxshare Precision.
Zhao has deep historical ties with Xpeng, as Dogotix, a robotics firm he founded in 2019, was acquired by Xpeng in December 2020, LatePost noted.
Following that acquisition, Zhao served as the general manager of Xpeng's robotics division, Xpeng Robotics, from 2021 to 2023, leading a 400-person research team across Beijing, Shenzhen, and Silicon Valley.
Li joined Xpeng's autonomous driving research team in June 2019 and took over full responsibility for the company's smart driving solutions in August 2023.
He succeeded Wu Xinzhou at the time, who had left the company to join Nvidia. Under Li's leadership, Xpeng expanded its navigation guided pilot system to hundreds of domestic cities.
Li stepped down from his role as autonomous driving head on October 9, 2025. He was replaced by Liu Xianming, an executive with AI expertise.
EngineAI focuses on a strategy that prioritizes physical capabilities and motion control of robots, and the company expects to achieve sales of dozens of units in 2026 for application verification in specific industries.
($1 = 6.8208 yuan)
