{"slug": "ai2-robotics-raises-735m-at-3b-valuation-for-wheeled-humanoid-robots", "title": "AI² Robotics raises $735M at $3B valuation for wheeled humanoid robots", "summary": "AI² Robotics raised $735 million at a $2.8 billion valuation for its wheeled humanoid robots, positioning the Shenzhen-based company among leaders in China's physical AI sector. The funding, backed by state funds, corporations, and financial institutions, will support deployment of its AlphaBot 2 in logistics, manufacturing, and other industrial settings.", "body_md": "AI² Robotics has raised about $735 million in a fresh financing round that pushed its valuation past 50 billion RMB, or about $2.8 billion U.S. The funding positions the Shenzhen-based company among the leaders of China’s fast-moving physical AI sector.\n\nThe diverse investor base in AI² Robotics’ latest funding round reflects the strategic importance now placed on the technology, drawing capital from state-backed entities, industrial corporations, and financial institutions. The [company](https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/ai2-robotics/) has secured commitments from government funds like the National Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund, corporate players ranging from Sino Biopharmaceutical to the Moutai Group, and financial firms like CICC Capital and GSR Ventures.\n\nAI² Robotics develops a wheeled [mobile manipulator](https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/mobile-manipulation/) equipped with a [humanoid](https://www.therobotreport.com/category/robots-platforms/humanoids/) torso and nimble five-fingered hands. The strategic decision to use a wheeled base over [legged](https://www.therobotreport.com/tag/legged-robots/) locomotion puts the company in the minority of [Chinese](https://www.therobotreport.com/category/china/) firms developing humanoid-style robotics.\n\nHowever, the mechanism features over 34 degrees of freedom and a custom waist-leg lifting mechanism that elevates the upper torso through a range of positions. While the robot can’t climb stairs or traverse rugged terrain, it is significantly cheaper to produce, mechanically durable, and faces much lower regulatory hurdles when deploying into public spaces.\n\n## AI2 Robotics builds Alpha Brain VLA model\n\nHardware is only half the battle. Every AlphaBot operates on Alpha Brain, AI² Robotics’ proprietary vision-language-action (VLA) model. This foundation software handles real-time spatial reasoning, environmental understanding, and complex, multi-step task planning.\n\nInstead of waiting for a distant consumer future, AI² Robotics is actively pushing AlphaBot 2 into practical, structured environments where its wheel-and-arm layout shines: logistics, manufacturing, biotech, public service, and retail settings.\n\nThe [company](https://ai2robotics.com/en/) is targeting industrial applications and is avoiding the hype of promising consumer or household applications any time soon.\n\nThe funding announcement comes on the heels of other recent funding events in the humanoid market, including the pending [IPO by Agility](https://www.therobotreport.com/humanoid-maker-agility-robotics-go-public-through-spac-merger/), funding rounds for [Apptronik](https://www.therobotreport.com/apptronik-brings-in-another-520m-to-ramp-up-apollo-production/) and [Neura](https://www.therobotreport.com/neura-robotics-raise-up-1-4b-in-series-c-funding-physical-ai/), and the [acquisition of Kinisi Robotics by Bear Robotics](https://www.therobotreport.com/bear-robotics-acquires-kinisi-robotics-to-boost-its-physical-ai-capabilities/).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai2-robotics-raises-735m-at-3b-valuation-for-wheeled-humanoid-robots", "canonical_source": "https://www.therobotreport.com/ai%c2%b2-robotics-raises-735m-3b-valuation-wheeled-humanoid-robots/", "published_at": "2026-07-10 19:44:55+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-10 20:11:26.908640+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["robotics", "artificial-intelligence", "ai-startups", "ai-products"], "entities": ["AI² Robotics", "National Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund", "Sino Biopharmaceutical", "Moutai Group", "CICC Capital", "GSR Ventures", "Agility Robotics", "Apptronik"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai2-robotics-raises-735m-at-3b-valuation-for-wheeled-humanoid-robots", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai2-robotics-raises-735m-at-3b-valuation-for-wheeled-humanoid-robots.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai2-robotics-raises-735m-at-3b-valuation-for-wheeled-humanoid-robots.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai2-robotics-raises-735m-at-3b-valuation-for-wheeled-humanoid-robots.jsonld"}}