XPENG IRON humanoid robot draws record physical AI funding

XPENG’s physical AI unit has secured over $900 million at a $6.3 billion valuation to scale its IRON humanoid robot platform.

The Chinese electric vehicle maker announced the funding round for its robotics business through a set of share purchase agreements with multiple investors. XPENG says the deal represents the largest single-round private capital raise in China’s physical AI industry to date, based on both the amount raised and the resulting valuation.

He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of XPENG, said: “Over the past 12 years, XPENG has remained committed to full-stack in-house R&D, building a solid technological foundation for the physical AI era—across our physical world foundation model, Turing AI chips, and AI infrastructure.

“This has enabled us to pioneer a new phase of mass production and commercial deployment for advanced humanoid robots.”

However, Xpeng’s shares are down 7.22 percent at the time of writing, and the 12-month decline stands at 51.24 percent. XPENG’s core vehicle business faces intensifying com...