Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng has made a significant move: it has spun off its robotics division Dogotix into a separate company and raised more than 900 million dollars. This is the largest private funding round in the field of embodied AI in China.
Money and control
Investors valued Dogotix at 6,3 billion dollars. The round was led by IDG Capital, with participants including Gaorong Ventures, Tencent, and Alibaba. Of the 900 million dollars, 600 million came from external investors, 200 million from a XPeng subsidiary, and another 100 million was invested by executives led by CEO He Xiaopeng.
XPeng will retain control of Dogotix at approximately 82% percent, but taking into account options and employee incentive plans, this figure could drop to 68% percent.
What the money will be used for
The funds will be directed toward accelerating the development of hardware and software foundations, training physical AI models, building mass production capabilities, and expanding beyond China.
The company plans to launch mass production of the humanoid robot IRON by the end of 2026, with more than one thousand units per month. The first robots will begin working in XPeng's own stores and campuses, with commercial deliveries in domestic and international markets scheduled for 2027.
Dogotix will remain in XPeng's financial statements, allowing the parent company to obtain an independent funding channel without diverting resources from its core automotive business.
How IRON works
The technological core allows the robot to operate fully autonomously. IRON is equipped with three proprietary Turing chips with a total computing power of 2250 TOPS and runs on a Vision-Language-Action model that converts visual information directly into control signals.
This allows XPeng's accumulated experience in autonomous driving and sensor data processing to be integrated into the new robotics platform, creating a unified physical AI ecosystem for transportation and robotics.
Global race
The strategy makes sense in the context of the global race. Tesla has long positioned itself as an artificial intelligence company preparing production of the humanoid robot Optimus, but the program is stalling.
XPeng, in contrast, demonstrates concrete plans and financial strength for scaling: according to Morgan Stanley forecasts, annual sales of Chinese humanoids are expected to grow from 28 thousand to 50 thousand units in 2026, with XPeng becoming one of the main growth drivers.
The valuation of 6,3 billion dollars by reputable investors allows the market to separate the value of the robotics business from XPeng's core automotive activities.
Long-term effect
Mass production of humanoids could reshape retail, logistics, and industrial manufacturing—from assisting consultants in stores to automating repetitive operations in factories.
However, success depends not only on the volume of investment but also on XPeng's ability to transform laboratory developments into a reliable mass-produced product capable of competing in the dynamic global market for physical AI.
