'Genius boy' Zhihui Jun abandons Huawei and joins Baidu? It is difficult for large manufacturers to manufacture self-developed robots, so investment is the last straw.

Robotics technology requires huge resource investment. The technology is not as mature as public opinion expects, and is still far from large-scale application. Large manufacturers have been under great pressure to survive in recent years. They focus on reducing costs and increasing efficiency, and there is not much willingness to continue to support it. Similar projects.

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Half a year after leaving Huawei, the funds for the AI ​​robot entrepreneurial project "Zhiyuan Robot" launched by former Huawei "genius boy" Zhihui Jun have been gradually received, and the second round of financing has been completed.

Participating investors include first-tier VCs such as Matrix Partners and Gaorong Capital, as well as local state-owned assets such as Shanghai Huanxin Phase I Private Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), Shanghai Sinan Yuanke Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd., and Internet giant Baidu.

Tianyancha information shows that on May 28, Shanghai Zhiyuan Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., an affiliated company of Zhiyuan Robot, underwent industrial and commercial changes, adding funds under Baidu Venture Capital, CDH Capital and other institutions as shareholders, and the company’s registered capital It increased from approximately 42.3636 million yuan to 48.4702 million yuan.

Zhihuijun’s original name is Peng Zhihui. His fame began when he participated in Huawei’s “Genius Youth” project in 2020. Public information shows that the pre-tax annual salary of Huawei's "genius boys" is divided into three levels, the highest level is 1.82 million to 2.01 million yuan, the second level is 1.405 million to 1.565 million yuan, and the third level is 896,000 to 1.008 million yuan. Currently, only 7 people have received the highest annual salary of 2.01 million yuan, and Zhihui Jun is among them.

It is precisely because of this that Zhihuijun caused an uproar when he announced his resignation from Huawei at the end of 2022. His departure was obviously not due to business capabilities. During his tenure, Zhihui Jun was praised by Ren Zhengfei, who believed that he was the driving force for Huawei's innovation. His performance before leaving his job was all A's, and he also won awards such as the President's Award and the Star of Tomorrow.

On the contrary, Zhihui Jun ran away in pursuit of greater self-realization. At that time, an anonymous person on Zhihu revealed that Mr. Zhihui personally believed that Huawei was unlikely to invest in the robotics business on a large scale in the short term, so he decided to go out and do it.

Zhihui Jun’s true passion has always been in the field of robotics. Before joining Huawei, Zhihuijun was still a Bilibili up owner. Famous works such as the robotic arm Dummy and self-driving bicycles are all related to robots. Zhiyuan Robot founded by him will also focus on the development of general humanoid robots and embodied intelligence, and is committed to the deep integration of AI and robots.

Coincidentally, those who also chose to leave in 2022 to join robot entrepreneurship include Wang Gang, vice president of Alibaba DAMO Academy and the father of the Xiaomanlu logistics robot, and Chen Junbo, head of autonomous driving at Alibaba DAMO Academy. The departure of these technology giants has made the market wonder, why are big manufacturers with dual advantages of capital and talent unable to make robots?

Zhang Xiaorong, president of the Deepin Technology Research Institute, pointed out to Times Finance that robot technology requires huge resource investment. The technology is not as mature as public opinion expects and is still far from large-scale application. Large manufacturers have been under great pressure to survive in recent years. Concern In order to reduce costs and increase efficiency, there is not much willingness to continue supporting similar projects.

Is it difficult for major Internet companies to build robots?

The progress of the self-developed robot projects of many major Internet companies seems to be lower than expected.

The most obvious one is undoubtedly Ali. As early as September 2020 at the Yunqi Conference, Alibaba released an intelligent logistics robot "Xiaomanlu", focusing on last-mile delivery scenarios such as takeout, terminal logistics, unmanned retail, and park logistics, and established Xiaomanlu. Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. aims to promote the research and development and mass production of Xiaomanlu.

One year later, when the number of delivery orders for Xiaoman Donkeys reached 1 million, Wang Gang issued a "military order" that in three years the size of the Xiaoman Donkey fleet would reach 10,000 vehicles.

However, since announcing the sales of 350 units of "Little Man Donkey" in October 2021, Alibaba Damo Academy has not released new sales data. Contrary to the previous ambitions, what followed was the departure of many senior technical executives. Wang Gang was the first to leave. He resigned on January 5, 2022 and went to start a business in the field of cleaning robots.

In March this year, Wang Gang’s successor Chen Junbo also announced his resignation. According to media reports, Chen Junbo co-founded Youlu Intelligent with former Alibaba Robot CEO Gu Zulin and Wang Jian, head of a team at DAMO Academy and VP of Zhejiang University Insigma Hengtian, to enter the field of outdoor cleaning robots.

After the departure of technology giants one after another, the business lines of Alibaba Damo Academy also began to shrink. In May, as Alibaba launched the "1 6 N" organizational reform, the DAMO Academy Autonomous Driving Laboratory was merged into the Cainiao Group. This also means that Alibaba’s investment in intelligent logistics robots like Xiaomanlu will shift from the exploration of cutting-edge technology in the laboratory to the implementation of scenario-based business.

Other major manufacturers have gone a little further than Alibaba in exploring robots. In 2018, Tencent poached Dr. Zhang Zhengyou, chief researcher of Microsoft Research, to establish a robotics laboratory, Robotics

In November 2020, Robotics At the beginning of this year, it launched a self-developed robot dexterous hand "TRX-Hand" and a robotic arm "TRX-Arm" that can realize the function of bartending. Zhang Zhengyou was also elected by Tencent as the first level 17 researcher in history.

The problem is that with the emergence of new trends in ChatGPT, Tencent’s betting direction has also begun to adjust. According to 36kr reports, in April this year, Tencent established the "HunyuanAide" project team for ChatGPT-like conversational products, led by Zhang Zhengyou. As a result, the scientist's focus may change.

Currently, the major manufacturer that has made the most obvious progress in the field of robotics is Xiaomi, which has a hardware background. In August 2022, Xiaomi released the humanoid robot CyberOne, which is another masterpiece after Xiaomi released the four-legged robot Cyberdog last year. It was released even earlier than Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus Prime. However, its individual cost is as high as 600,000 to 700,000 yuan, and mass production cannot be achieved.

In 2023, Xiaomi's Robotics Division also underwent adjustments, and its person in charge was changed from Zhang Lei, general manager of Xiaomi's wearable department, to Du Duo, the former general manager of the manufacturing engineering department of Xiaomi's mobile phone department. At the same time, Xiaomi established a robotics technology company, which is considered to be a sign of increasing its innovative business.

Self-research is not going well, investment is the last straw

The exodus of technology giants is undoubtedly related to the unstable investment in robots by large manufacturers.

Compared with the current development path of Gaoxian, Qinglang, Pudu and other companies in the first echelon of the service robot industry, which focus on polishing products in a certain segment and finally realize commercial use, the attitude of major Internet companies towards robots is more Most of them are forward-looking technological explorations.

This can be clearly seen from the project ownership department. Alibaba’s Xiaomanlu was previously affiliated with Damo Academy, which is dedicated to exploring unknown technologies, and Tencent’s Robotics X is also under the AI ​​Lab, the company’s artificial intelligence laboratory.

According to Jiemian News, even though they belong to Xiaomi’s mobile phone division, Tiedan and Tieda do not have substantive revenue generation or profit goals. The two and the robot division behind them are in a sense Xiaomi’s repeated Emphasis on the symbol of "enthusiast" and "technological innovation". The marketing promotion significance of these two products is greater than the usability of the products themselves.

In an era when the Internet industry is booming, this kind of exploration is the company's face and represents the most cutting-edge research direction. But once the market environment deteriorates, such departments that spend money but do not generate income will become the primary target for cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

Zhang Xiaorong pointed out to Times Finance that major manufacturers focus on project results. However, the investment in robot research and development is high, and the technology is not as mature as public opinion expects, and it is still far from large-scale application. As the pressure to survive in the Internet industry increases and the focus is on cost reduction and efficiency improvement, large companies are less enthusiastic about entrepreneurship and more committed to success, and they no longer have much willingness to continue supporting similar projects.

At the same time, the lack of hardware manufacturing genes among major Internet companies is also considered to be one of the reasons. In Zhang Xiaorong’s view, Internet companies focus more on developing core technologies such as software and applications, and do not have strong technical skills in robotic hardware, electric motors and related components. Most Internet companies are oriented to consumer or service fields, rather than mass production to satisfy the industrial field. Cross-border entry into the manufacturing industry is too risky.

Li Qian (pseudonym), who is engaged in AI venture capital in Dachang, pointed out to Times Finance that the inherent system behind Dachang, such as the budget needs to be reviewed multiple times by the Dachang management, the project leader does not have enough decision-making power, and the departments Long communication and coordination processes may also result in experts being unable to perform to their full potential in related fields.

However, with the popularity of large models, AI robots have begun to attract market attention. At the ITF World 2023 Semiconductor Conference, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang stated that the next wave of artificial intelligence will be embodied intelligence, that is, intelligent systems that can understand, reason, and interact with the physical world.

Naturally, many major Internet companies do not want to miss this wave. In Li Qian's view, financial investment is a better path for large manufacturers whose self-developed robot projects have been hindered. This is also the reason why Mr. Zhihui received investment from Baidu after leaving Huawei.

In fact, major companies such as Tencent, Baidu, and Byte have already had many investment cases in the field of robotics. For example, Tencent has invested in service robot companies Yunji and Gaoxian, while Byte has invested in logistics robots Jiazhi Technology and Juxing. Prior to this, Baidu also invested in industrial inspection robot company Aqiu Technology, garbage sorting robot AMP Robotics, etc.

On the morning of May 31, Baidu founder Robin Li publicly announced that Baidu would set up a 1 billion yuan Wenxin Investment Fund to promote the prosperity of the large model ecosystem and launch the "Wenxin Cup" Entrepreneurship Competition, with the highest prize being Early investment worth 10 million yuan.

Article source: Times Finance

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