Gasgoo Munich- On January 26, large language model startup StepFun announced that Yin Qi was appointed chairman, responsible for setting the overall strategy and technical direction.
A veteran of the artificial intelligence sector, Yin Qi has extensive experience in technological evolution, commercial judgment, and organizational development. He will work with CEO Jiang Daxin, Chief Scientist Zhang Xiangyu, and CTO Zhu Yibo to form the company's core management team.
Image source: StepFun
Concurrently, Yin Qi serves as chairman of Qianli Technology. He has long focused on the integration of AI and hardware. Since founding MEGVII, he emphasized that algorithms must realize commercial value through hardware carriers. After assuming leadership at Qianli Technology in 2024, he used smart vehicles as an entry point, accumulating engineering expertise in software-hardware integration.
This dual role enables him to oversee both large model development and intelligent terminal manufacturing, laying the groundwork for a "Physical AI" system that connects underlying algorithms to large-scale applications.
As large model technology reaches end devices, smart hardware is evolving from "application containers" into "proactive agents." Recently, StepFun closed a B+ funding round of nearly 5 billion yuan, which will be allocated to base model R&D and validated through Qianli Technology's hardware scenarios. Their collaboration aims to build a system-level interaction interface, shifting the business model from app distribution to AI-centric service orchestration.
On the technical front, the partnership is visible in intelligent driving and cockpit domains. "Model content" has become a key metric for measuring autonomous driving capabilities, with StepFun's capabilities supporting Qianli Technology's development of end-to-end intelligent driving solutions.
Currently, the G-ASD system, jointly launched by Qianli Technology and Geely, has been equipped on 16 models under the ZEEKR and Lynk & Co brands. In the cockpit, Agent OS—built on StepFun's multimodal technology—is facilitating the shift of smart cockpits from functional tools to interactive partners.
Yin Qi's appointment reflects a further exploration by China's AI industry into software-hardware integration. By combining algorithms, hardware, and real-world scenario data to create a feedback loop for data and model iteration, this move could help Chinese companies build a differentiated technological moat in the "Physical AI" race.
