Lang Xianpeng, the former head of smart driving at Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto, has reportedly launched a new startup focused on embodied artificial intelligence, according to a report by local media outlet Red Probe.
The venture marks Lang’s entry into the fast-growing embodied AI sector, which aims to integrate artificial intelligence into physical systems such as robots so they can perceive their surroundings, learn from experience and interact dynamically with real-world environments.
According to the report, Lang has partnered with a senior executive from Alibaba to develop the new company. The move comes amid increasing investor interest in robotics and AI systems capable of performing physical tasks.
Lang’s departure reflects a broader shift in China’s technology sector, where experienced engineers and executives from the electric vehicle industry are moving into robotics and embodied AI startups.
The report noted that entrepreneurship could offer significantly higher financial returns compared with remaining in senior corporate roles at EV manufacturers. Several startups founded by former autonomous driving engineers have already attracted strong investor interest.
For example, robotics startup Simplexity Robotics, founded by Jia Peng—also a former member of Li Auto’s smart driving team—has reportedly reached a valuation of about $1 billion.
Funding activity in the sector has accelerated in recent months. According to the report, top embodied AI startups in China often secure funding rounds exceeding 1 billion yuan ($145 million), reflecting intense competition among investors seeking exposure to the emerging industry.
Despite growing enthusiasm, industry observers note that many current embodied AI demonstrations remain limited in capability. Existing systems often rely on relatively small, specialized models capable of performing basic tasks such as folding clothes.
While such demonstrations attract attention from investors, the technology remains far from large-scale commercial deployment, the report said.
The industry expects that once scalable data generation and training methods are established, companies with strong technical strategies could rapidly gain a competitive advantage.
Lang joined Li Auto in January 2018 as the first employee in the company’s autonomous driving department. Over eight years, he rose from research and development director to senior vice president, leading major initiatives within the automaker’s smart driving division.
Prior to joining Li Auto, Lang worked at Baidu as a senior project manager, where he was involved in projects including Baidu Maps and autonomous driving development.
During his time at Li Auto, Lang played a key role in two major strategic shifts in the company’s autonomous driving development: the transition to end-to-end autonomous driving systems in 2024 and the adoption of vision-language-action (VLA) models in 2025.
In February, Lang was reassigned to lead Li Auto’s newly established humanoid robot department before later leaving the company.
