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Consumer-oriented embodied AI model developer secures 500 million yuan funding in China_我的网站
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Consumer-oriented embodied AI model developer Noin Intelligence announced a 500-million-yuan ($74.1 million) Angel++ funding round on Monday, the company said in a statement, marking another major capital inflow into embodied AI models as investors turn their attention toward the "brains" behind robots.
According to the statement, the company plans to channel the funding into developing more generalizable embodied AI models, advancing iterations of its GLOW generative model, and accelerating product validation and mass production.
Industry experts noted that a broader shift in the robotics race, with competition moving beyond hardware performance toward the development of core intelligence capabilities. While hardware forms the physical foundation of robots, embodied AI models determine their ability to perceive, learn, reason and adapt in real-world environments, making them a key factor in unlocking future opportunities.
The funding momentum extends beyond Noin Intelligence, with several other companies recently securing major financing rounds that are largely focused on advancing their AI models.
On August 3, Wuxi-based embodied intelligence company DISCOVER Robotics secured a $100 million Angel+ funding round, shortly after completing its initial angel financing of more than $100 million, according to Wuxi Fabu, the official WeChat account of the local government.
The company later introduced ORION, a hierarchical embodied intelligence foundation model, as well as LOOP, a virtual-real hybrid data closed-loop system, and DISCOVERSE, a high-fidelity simulator. The solutions are designed to tackle two major challenges facing the embodied intelligence — data scarcity and limited generalization — and accelerate the development of more capable AI systems, according to Wuxi Fabu.
In addition, according to industry media reports on August 3, Ant Lingbo, Ant Group's embodied intelligence subsidiary, has launched its first round of financing, seeking to raise 1.5 billion yuan.
The company aims to complete a second funding round by the end of this year. The company later confirmed to media that it was in discussions with investors, saying that as a core initiative of Ant Group's embodied intelligence strategy, it will continue to focus on developing general-purpose robotic brains, increase investment in embodied-native technology pathways, and accelerate industrial deployment.
The shift is also reflected in the fundraising priorities of publicly listed candidates.
Notably, Unitree Robotics, which has recently drawn widespread attention from the capital market, officially opened IPO subscriptions on Monday. According to its prospectus registration document disclosed by the Shanghai Stock Exchange on June 2, the company plans to raise 4.202 billion yuan through the IPO, with nearly half of the proceeds earmarked for its intelligent robot model R&D project.
Of the total proceeds, 2.02 billion yuan will be allocated to the intelligent robot model development project, significantly exceeding the 1.11 billion yuan planned for robot body R&D, highlighting the company's focus on developing the AI capabilities that power robots.
Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said the latest financing trend shows that capital is reassessing where the core value of robotics lies. Investors are increasingly moving beyond robot hardware itself and treating embodied AI models and robotic "brains" as high-value assets, with capital flowing more toward software, algorithms and intelligence capabilities, he told the Global Times on Monday.
The valuation framework is also being reshaped, with investors paying greater attention to real-world deployment, customer adoption and repeat demand rather than hardware specifications or corporate narratives alone. Whether robots can operate reliably in real application scenarios has become a key benchmark for investment decisions, Wang said.
He added that increased investment in embodied AI models and generative world models could help address the structural gap between general-purpose AI models and physical-world interaction by expanding the supply of real-world interaction data. Capital is also increasingly favoring companies aligned with the country's long-term industrial priorities and emerging industry development plans, he said.
According to data from IT industry research platform ITjuzi.com, financing in China's embodied intelligence sector totaled 93.5 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, surpassing 90 billion yuan and marking a fivefold increase from the same period in 2025. The number of financing deals reached 322, up 137 percent year-on-year.
As China enters the first year of its 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), policy priorities are placing greater emphasis on developing emerging industries, with the country accelerating AI development and promoting its integration with various sectors, Chinese experts noted. Meanwhile, as global AI development enters a new stage driven by broader applications and deeper industry integration, embodied intelligence is expected to unlock significant growth potential.
Driven by policy support and rapid industry evolution, the nation's upstream and downstream segments of the AI industry have gained momentum, achieving notable progress.
According to a Bloomberg's Monday report, China's humanoid robot makers commanded more than 97 percent of global shipments in the first half of 2026, according to new industry data affirming the country's early lead against US rivals in the burgeoning field.
Meanwhile, global humanoid robot shipments totaled roughly 19,100 units in the first half of 2026, more than triple the 5,100 units shipped in the same period last year, according to data from Smart Analytics Global. Data further noted the California-based research firm expects shipments to rise to around 60,000 units this year and reach half a million by 2030.
。 COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Gale-force winds and floods struck several countries in Northern Europe as the region braced for more heavy rain on Friday. In Scotland, one person was reported dead after being swept into a river and authorities searched for a man thought to be trapped in his vehicle.The gale-force winds are expected to hit hardest in the eastern part of Denmark's Jutland peninsula and the Danish islands in the Baltic Sea. But the northern part of the British Isles, southern Sweden and Norway, and northern Germany are also on the path of the storm, named Babet by U.K.’s weather forecaster, the Met Office.Eastern Scotland continued to bear the brunt of the stormy weather. On Friday, the Met Office issued a new “red” warning for parts of eastern Scotland for further flooding throughout Saturday.A 57-year-old woman died Thursday after being swept into a river in the region of Angus, where 400 homes were evacuated. A police spokeswoman said they were informed Thursday about a man within a vehicle trapped in floodwaters in nearby Marykirk.With the worst of the heavy rain in Scotland set to diminish over the coming hours, emergency services warned that rivers may still rise and breach flood defenses. Some parts of the town of Brechin are only accessible by boat after its flood defenses were overwhelmed by the heavy rainfall, raising concerns about further loss of life.“I cannot stress how dangerous conditions are in Brechin in particular,” said Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf.Wind gusts in excess of 60 mph (100 kph) were likely on Friday. Several major road sections and rail routes were closed in Scotland, while air passengers were facing flight cancellations.On Thursday, the Met Office issued a rare red alert — the highest level of weather warning — for parts of Scotland, predicting “exceptional rainfall” and “danger to life from fast-flowing or deep floodwater.” The last red alert in the U.K. was issued in 2020.The storm has already brought more than a month’s worth of rain in the worst-affected regions in Scotland and is set to pummel many parts of northern England over Friday.“It will probably be some kind of historic event,” Hans Peter Wandler of the Danish Meteorological Institute told the Ekstra Bladet daily. “But we’ll have to wait until it’s over to see if it’s going to be a two-year event or a 100-year event.” Police in southern Denmark — the Danish region expected to be the worst hit — said that a number of road sections in the low-lying areas were flooded and a few trees have also fallen. Citing the Danish Meteorological Institute — which issued a warning for “very dangerous weather,” its highest — police in southern Denmark said that the water level would continue to rise. Sea levels in parts of inland Danish waters were expected to rise up to 240 centimeters (nearly eight feet) above normal. In neighboring Sweden, meteorologists warned of the risk of extensive flooding which may cause limited access on roads and railways along the southern coasts of the Scandinavian country. Water levels were expected to begin dropping again on Saturday morning, Swedish meteorologists said.A bridge near Norway’s second-largest city was protectively closed, the Bergens Tidende newspaper said. Ferries across the region were canceled and air traffic was hampered, with delays and a few cancellations. The Swedish Transportation Authority suspended service of several train and bus lines in southern Sweden, because of the weather, prompting Skanetrafiken, the operator of the local transit system, to recommend ”avoiding travel on public transport.””Some regional bus routes will be canceled and there is a risk that both regional and replacement buses in service may also be canceled at short notice,” Skanetrafiken said on its website.In Germany, some streets and squares were flooded in the cities of Flensburg, Kiel and Wismar on the Baltic coast. Fallen trees caused some disruption, including a railway line. Ferry operator Scandlines suspended services on its Roedby-Puttgarden and Gedser-Rostock routes between Denmark and Germany.On Germany’s North Sea coast, the high winds had the opposite effect to the flooding on the Baltic coast, pushing the water further out and leading to very low water levels. Ferries to some North Sea islands were canceled.___Pan Pylas in London, and Geir Moulson in Berlin, contributed to this report.___Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment。
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