Chinese AI startup ShengShu Technology has raised 2 billion yuan (about US$292.6 million) in a new funding round led by Alibaba Cloud. The company shared this update on Friday.
The funding comes as competition in China’s AI industry is growing quickly, with more companies investing in advanced technology.
ShengShu said the funding would support development of a “general world model” that processes sensory information to simulate human perception and interaction, which the company describes as a step toward artificial general intelligence in physical environments.
The company did not say when this new system will be available for public use.
At the same time, many Chinese companies—from big names like ByteDance to startups like robot company Unitree—are also working on similar “world model” technologies.
ShengShu said the funding round included investments from Andon Haitang, China Internet Investment Fund, TAL Education Group, and Luminous Ventures. Existing investors LINK-X CAPITAL, Delta Capital, and Baidu Ventures also increased their stakes.
Founded in 2023 by Tsinghua University alum Zhu Jun. It became the first Chinese company to launch a video generation model called Vidu in April 2024.
The model was seen as a competitor to OpenAI’s Sora, which was later discontinued. Since then, ShengShu has released several updated versions of Vidu, including the Vidu Q3 model announced earlier this year.
The company has also started working in robotics. In December 2025, it open-sourced a model called Motus, which helps control robots using different types of data like video and audio.
The company has also moved into robotics. In December 2025, it released an open-source model called Motus, which helps control robots using different types of data like video and audio.
At the same time, the startup faces strong competition from big Chinese tech companies like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Kuaishou, which have also launched their own video generation models.
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