【Epoch Times, October 20, 2025】Suzhou’s One Star Robotics Co., Ltd. is reported to have entered the dissolution process recently. The company, led by Li Xingxing, the son of Li Shufu, founder of Geely Holding Group, focused on “embodied intelligence” and had been established for less than six months.
Multiple sources confirmed to “First Financial” that the company is indeed in the process of dissolution, with “relevant personnel with Geely background have basically withdrawn.”
Yao, a researcher in the investment field at Alibaba in Hangzhou, stated in an interview with Epoch Times reporters on October 20th, “Embodied intelligence is a very important direction, and equipment, algorithms, computing power, and supply chain are all indispensable. A company that dissolves within a few months cannot have made progress on the technical level. Such projects are mostly capital chasing policy trends.”
Yao pointed out that in the current wave of AI entrepreneurship in mainland China, a large proportion is associated with second-generation rich individuals and large companies. “They do not have to consider financing pressure, nor do they care about long-term research and development investment. The existence of these companies is to create a capital story for easy promotion in the capital market.”
According to a report by “Daily Economic News” on October 19th, when reporters visited the original office location of the company, unopened equipment was piled up at the entrance, and the signs and nameplates had been removed. Property staff stated that the company moved out in early October, and the venue lease has not yet been terminated. Another location in the Suzhou Industrial Park was in a state of suspended renovation, with construction workers stating, “The renovation was halted midway.”
Business registration data shows that One Star Robotics Co., Ltd. was registered in Suzhou on May 9, 2025, with Pan Yunbin as the legal representative, and a registered capital of 10 million RMB. Li Xingxing holds approximately 65.66% of the shares with 51% voting rights. The company had been active after its establishment, receiving strategic investments from past investors related to Geely such as “Caocao Mobility” and MicroCrystal in mid-August. Media reports indicated that on September 17th, the company completed a seed round financing of several hundred million RMB, and partnered with Fudan University to establish the “Intelligent Robotics School-Enterprise Joint Laboratory.”
Yao expressed that this entrepreneurial model reflects the current innovation environment: “Research is driven by capital, and capital is driven by policy. When the policy focus shifts, companies can close at any time. Employees and technology are just transitional.”
Following the exposure of the incident, many netizens commented that One Star Robotics company was suspected of “money grabbing.” A netizen, Tao Ran, wrote, “To raise hundreds of millions within a few months, and now claiming dissolution, it doesn’t seem like they were doing research and development, but more like capital operations.” Another comment stated, “Local governments provide subsidies and tax reductions for high-tech projects. Once the companies receive the funds, they withdraw, and these funds cannot be recovered.”
Suzhou netizen Wang Lixin commented in the discussion section, “A few years ago, there was a company doing autonomous driving that closed after receiving subsidies, without even bringing in the equipment.”
As reported by Observer, multiple employees confirmed to the media that they received dissolution notices in early October, with research equipment still left in the warehouse. An engineer involved in the development mentioned there were no new meetings or progress in September, and the finance department left in October. Another informant revealed internal disagreements, with some teams focusing on algorithm research and others hoping to integrate with automobile automation.
Liu Jian, a Zhejiang venture consultant (alias), analyzed that most second-generation rich individuals lack management experience, let alone market expansion; they often rely on family background or act as family agents: “This phenomenon is very common in mainland China. They have the background and connections, enabling them to obtain resources. Whether the technology is implemented is not important, what matters is who is behind it.”
Chen Fan, an AI analyst from Jiangsu, pointed out, “Companies present themselves with returnee teams and doctoral titles, obtain financing successfully within six months, and close within another six months. This is the new norm.” Chen Fan added, “Intelligent enterprises cannot survive without capital and technology. Currently, with the US and the Netherlands halting semiconductor technology supply, related industries in China are facing pressure.”
On Weibo and Zhihu, related topics trended. One netizen commented, “Ordinary people struggle with their ventures for five years, while they raise hundreds of millions in six months; ordinary people fail, accruing debt, while they fail, they turn around and start a new company.”
The establishment of One Star Robotics by Li Xingxing was seen as Geely’s experimental project in embodied intelligence. It was noted that its research content overlapped with Geely’s subsidiary, Qianli Technology. Qianli Technology submitted its H-share listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on October 16.
Local governments across China have been promoting the AI and robotics industries in recent years. Between 2023 and 2025, over 26,000 new companies with names containing “intelligence” and “robotics” were registered, but about half of them were deregistered within a year. Auditing institutions in many regions pointed out that some project subsidies lack a mechanism for recovery, making it difficult to trace the funding flow.
A netizen wrote, “Rich second-generation play entrepreneurship, while the common people struggle to find work.” This statement was reposted tens of thousands of times within a short period.
责任编辑：林琮文#