Ant Group’s embodied AI arm Robbyant kicks off external funding

Robbyant, Ant Group's embodied artificial intelligence division, has announced plans to seek external funding, marking the fourth unit within the fintech giant to undertake capital-raising efforts. The unit disclosed ongoing discussions with potential investors on Monday. Robbyant describes itself as Ant Group's core initiative in embodied intelligence, with a focus on developing a versatile "robot brain" and investing in technologies tailored for embodied AI.

In its inaugural fundraising round, the division sought approximately 1.5 billion yuan (US$222 million), with plans to finalize a second round by year-end, according to LatePost and Lanjing News. Ant Group's decision to pursue independent capital-raising for Robbyant stems from internal budget constraints due to the company's intensified AI pursuits, as well as the growing momentum in the sector.

Last month, Robbyant unveiled the second generation of its LingBot AI foundation model family, featuring tools like LingBot-Vision for visual data processing, LingBot-Depth 2.0 for spatial perception, and LingBot-VA 2.0 for predictive scene analysis and robot actions. This development underscores a broader trend within Ant Group, which in 2024 restructured three core operations—Ant International, OceanBase, and Ant Digital Technologies—into autonomous entities with distinct boards, operating frameworks, and customized employee stock options.

Ant Digital Technologies is currently preparing for a fundraising round and a potential initial public offering, while Ant International recently completed a US$1.2 billion Series A round, with Ant Group and Alibaba Group Holding joining as international institutional investors. OceanBase, the group's database developer, is also seeking its first external equity financing, targeting 2 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan.