Alibaba Cloud Makes First Investment in Embodied Intelligence, Co-Leads $140M Funding for X Square Robot

Chinese cloud computing giant Alibaba Cloud has entered the embodied intelligence sector for the first time, co-leading a major funding round for robotics startup X Square Robot, according to a domestic media report.

According to a report published on September 8, 2025, X Square Robot announced the completion of a near 1 billion yuan ($140 million) Series A+ funding round.

The funding was co-led by Alibaba Cloud and National Science & Technology Investment, with participation from China Development Bank Capital, Sequoia China, and Yuance Capital. Existing investor Meituan's strategic investment arm provided additional follow-on investment, while Legend Star and Hony Capital continued their backing of the company.

This marks Alibaba Cloud's inaugural investment in the embodied intelligence space, though parent company Alibaba Group has previously invested in several related companies including LimX Dynamics、Robot Era、Unitree Robotics, and PaXiniTech. The proceeds will fund X Square Robot's continued development of its proprietary general-purpose embodied intelligence foundation model and hardware product iterations.

The investment reflects intensifying competition among Chinese tech giants in the embodied intelligence sector. JD.com has invested in six embodied intelligence companies within three months covering the entire industry chain from robot hardware to core components and interaction models.

Meituan has backed multiple firms including Unitree, Galbot , and Xinghai Tu , while Tencent launched its Tairos embodied intelligence open platform in 2025, described as China's first modular software platform providing large language models and development tools for the robotics industry.

The surge in investment activity highlights the strategic importance Chinese technology companies are placing on embodied intelligence as they seek to integrate artificial intelligence capabilities with physical robotics applications across various industries.