The following article is from In∞"←★telligence Emergence, author Wu φαJingjing

36Kr learned that the multimodal ☆¶®∞large model company "Ruoy ✔γ®u Technology" ha¶®s completed an angel round of fε↑÷♥inancing of over 50 million yuan. Th₹¶♣₹is round of financing wα≠as led by Dongfang J∑‌®'inggong, followed by Kinzhong Capi↕π≥tal, and Yuanhe Capital served as tγ≠λ±he exclusive financing advisor. The ‌'company said that theα☆ funds will be mainly ♠∏¶∏used for product resea​'rch and development, bu✔♦≠¶siness expansion, and t↔±"☆eam building.

Ruoyu Technology is a t£<₽₽eam originating from Harbin Institute oΩ₹♦‌f Technology, founded in 2023, aimi≥ ng to build a robot brain th→↔€rough multimodal largπ←§e model technology.

The company's founder, NΩ ie Liqiang, is current₽ ly the executive dean ofγφ the School of ComputeΩ≈&r Science and Technolog•₽×y of Harbin Institut$♥¥e of Technology (Shenz∑±‍hen). He has been selected as ₹∏≤λa national talent twice∏€♦. His scientific research ε∑♦ focuses on multimodal₽εβ↕ content analysis and its implementatio₽✔n in the field of embod$λ↔↓ied intelligence. He is the f ♣‍irst author of the best paper of ACM MM>σ 2022, a top conference of CCF-×↔A in the multimodal field; co-f₽£✔ounder Zhang Min serves as&≈λ• the company's chief sc©★ientist. He is a specially appointed as‍≥€sistant to the president of Harbi±€<n Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) a∑₹nd the first outstanding young scholar←≥ in the field of NLP in China. €δ∞±His main research direction ↑♣∞"is pre-trained language large m✘‌> odels and their applicatio®♥§ns in the field of emb€♠odied intelligence; anoth↑∞er co-founder, Sun Teng, is a se✔β rial entrepreneur and a PhD in ©φartificial intelligen>×✘ce. His research directio♦ ‍n is multimedia content anσ<₽→alysis and embodied intelligence; ↓ at the same time, the companyα&'s strategic advisor is ≠↕ ↔Geng Chen, an alumnus of Harbin In©÷≠↔stitute of Technology, a master of art φΩ♠ificial intelligence ‌πσ∞from the National University ≠¥of Singapore, deputy director o¥✘δ>f Huachuang Securitiελε≥es Research Institute, and a w↓£∞ell-known analyst.

The opportunity for the company&#<σ39;s establishment lies in ™εβthe new opportunities brought by♠  the technical variabl₹ e of large models. Ruoyu∏☆ Technology chose to bet on the robot "' brain, empowering the £ε§robotics industry through itsα±×€ self-developed multimodal large moλε♥del base combined with mas☆σ≥sive vertical data. Sun Teng, the¶‌± company's co-foundeσλ₽πr, judged: "The robot brain is t←₩♠he pyramid in the core techno♣≥↕logy stack of the robot, and the r≠βobot brain based on multim♠∑•$odal large models is an ≤¶ inevitable trend in the devel <✔↑opment of the indust♦ ₩ry ." Ruoyu Technology has ta♦$✔ken a fancy to the a↑®σαpplication opportunities of multimoda✘ l large models in the fi≥ε✔eld of robotics.

There are already compaδ₹☆nies in the international market α≥that are planning to develop ♠↓£this technology. Embodi♦£ed, founded by Pieter Abbeel, ≥©↓an early founding me✔♦₽mber of OpenAI and a UC Berkeley ex×₽pert, and Physical Intelligenc₹☆ ☆e, the latest investment of Open AI, a☆☆∑re both targeting the dire♣≠ction of robot brains.

Big model technology≈¶ expands the capabilities★© of robots. Sun Teng told 36Kr, &quo>"↔↑t;Before using AI technology, traditio>®₽nal robots mainly rely on vision and p‍♠'₽erception technology fo←≥$r body control, such as kinematic an₹÷₩d dynamic control. These technologi‌• es help robots to plan paths and per©≈form remote control, but in essence, ↔‌<'robots still lack thinkin∞∞g and soul, and cannot get rid©₽γ" of the limitation of 'simple∑≈ mind and strong limbs'."

The introduction of large model t  §♣echnology has changed this situati ™α•on. "It has endowed robo≥≤ts with intelligence simil÷<γar to that of human children aged th☆↓↔®ree to six, making a qualitati≤≈ve leap in the ability of robots i∑  n reasoning, decision-making,✔® environmental perception and p¥₽lanning," said Sun Teng.

Aiming at equipping robots with  ∞ multimodal brains, Ruoyu T®≠•πechnology has built its own basic mo∏≠del and used robot data for trainingφ↕.

In terms of the base model, Ruoyu has c✔♠$reated a self-developα¥ed multimodal model - Ruoyu Jiutian±®'. It is reported tha¥∞¶δt the Jiutian model can support multimodal inp±₹•ut and output of text, pictur​£$es, audio, and video. At present,φ♦δ$ the Ruoyu Jiutian multimodal model h'<εas been segmented an$₩•d applied in vertical fields.♥Ω‍

The Ruoyu·Jiutian model has al₩≠≈≈so been specially trained for robot apλ$©©plication scenarios. "↓​©​;The Ruoyu·Jiutian model includ''γes a planning model, a perception moπ™del, and an execution model. It has the♦♠‌≤ ability to understa✘±nd human language and intentioπ♣ns, as well as multimodal envirβ↔onments. When the robot receives a tas÷δk instruction, the model can perceive •₩₩the multimodal environm§∑₩ent, decompose the task at multip♣★πle granularities, and use t∏‍αδhe output of the previous step as th&ε≈e input of the next step, form&¶¶≥ing a cyclic time series planning'∏ execution. In this way, even if an®φ↕γ unexpected situation occurs, the rob∏±ot can make corresponding adjustments i≈¥✘€n the subsequent ste♦'π•ps." Sun Teng mentioned.

Sun Teng believes that Ruoyu Technolo↔™₽ gy's core competitγσ →iveness lies in the model layer and i±<&ndustrial resource layer: "First o±€≤f all, our model is completely self-↔​developed, and the team has deep acc★ &umulation in the fields of multimod  §ality and natural la×Ω±nguage processing. It has brought φ‌together dozens of national leadinΩ∑β♥g talents and young tδ‌alents. The team has a high₹÷§₽ talent density and strong profe≈σ₽>ssionalism. Secondly, as a schoo‍<l-owned enterprise incubated↑♦↑ by the Shenzhen Campus o♦♠‍♥f Harbin Institute of Technology, the s​★chool encourages talents to i♣φ‌→ndustrialize and provi±σde support to the company in terms of<✔α¥ talent introduction and industα∑rial resource introduction. Robδ↔™otics has always been a dominant disc≥✔×ipline of Harbin Institute of Tec ★☆hnology, and it has incu±♦₩​bated and cultivated a l•δarge number of excellent robot® ☆£ics alumni companies. These high-↕€σquality industrial reα±sources can support us f×♦¶rom product research and™♣≠ development to delivery. "

At the commercial level‌$, Ruoyu Technology currentl∏☆→y hopes to adopt a more standardized ‌♠delivery method. &quo•∑∑®t;Our goal is to creatβ∞•e a standardized robot brain pro &≤&duct, which can be more easily adaptδ‍ed to different robots ¶₹♠and application scenarios.&£'≥quot; Sun Teng said. At present, Ruoyu≤★ Technology's "♠∑;robot brain" is mainly in the form of cloud + termina×γl, through API + DK (S↑ ∑DK) , and cooperates with robot bodi™∞es and scenario companies in the ∏<•→industrial chain. The fields involv>↑<ed include food processi $ng, sorting, assembly, 3C industry a"‍$nd traditional manufacturinγ↑g, and the company h$®☆♣as cooperated with several leπεφading robot body man>δ♠ufacturers and tradit σβ✔ional manufacturing compan♠γ♣ies.

Next, the development of Ruoyu Tech§↑§♣nology will focus on the core technolog‌↓βy research and develo∞×pment and product implementatio‌ ₽n. Sun Teng, the company& ↕#39;s founder, said: "Ruoyu Tec★¶₹☆hnology's vision is&★ to give machines the same intell→ ✔↑igence as humans. We ↑±believe that through continuous technol↓•ogical innovation and produc♦↑≤≥t optimization, we can ac∏÷πhieve this goal and promσ'ote the development of the ≤©‍entire industry." In addition, t☆•₽he company will also cooperate &απwith the government and other com‍γβ←panies in the industry to jointly prom↕÷↑ote the formulation of i¶₽↔ndustry standards for robot brai ​ns.

Zhou Wenhui, Vice President o₹‌f Dongfang Precision Machinery Group, sσ ☆¶aid: "With the suppoεε'♠rt of the profound academi÷×c background of Harbin Institute of Te→↑↓>chnology (Shenzhen), Ruoyu Technoloδ♥§λgy focuses on the industrial β★±ization of multimodal large models®‌δ‌ in the field of robot embo↑₹€died intelligence, which not only ™γprovides robots with a new generatio↑₹n of multimodal large models of in♠'>telligent brains, but also gi<÷€♠ves robots higher-dimensional a>✔¥utonomous reasoning capabilities a↑©nd a wider range of task g ₩eneralization capabilities.<↕& Faced with a new roσ∏¥und of scientific and tπ↕'σechnological revolution and industri★™al transformation, Dongfang Preci♦↕±εsion Machinery Group₹≥" realizes that it must seize ≥↔←opportunities, increase innov<±ation efforts, cultivate and expan♥&d emerging industries, advance the la∞<yout of future industrie‌"£'s, and accelerate the development ×¥ of new quality productiv™×ity. Through in-depth↕¥ cooperation with Ruoyu T÷£echnology, Dongfang Precision ÷₩Machinery Group can not only pr♥π£ ovide more applicati∞ on scenarios for Ruoyu Technology's¥φ large models, but al®&so look forward to leveraging Ruoyu←↔☆ Technology's artificial intelβ‌ligence technology c÷δσ✘apabilities to help the group betγ÷ter achieve digital and intell♦&✔★igent breakthroughs and achieve high∏&-quality development of the $ ≤×group."

Yao Haibo, founding partner of Kinzo☆​→↓n Capital, said: "Kinzon Capital ÷'≠•is committed to investinα¥α∑g in the field of embo₽βε®died intelligent robots, andβ✔© has joined hands with resear ₹ch institutions of universities such σ ★ as Harbin Institute of &₽Technology, Hong Kong University of ®£Science and Technology, an∏→↔₩d Southern University of Science©™π and Technology to participate in th♠'e start-up of many robotics companiesφ​π£. Ruoyu Technology, as an innovative≤≈↓ general robot brain based on multimo₩$♠λdal large models, has worl₹§d-class academic and technical∞φγ  reserves. The founding team led by&£ Chairman Professor Nie Liqiang inclu♦®des national high-level tale"$♦≤nts in the fields of mul®<timodal large models, embodied λ•< intelligence, and large model∞☆₹§ quantization and compres'¶<sion. Relying on the joint §ε∏development and achievement transf✘♣ormation of Harbin Institute of Te ✔☆×chnology (Shenzhen), combined with€σ♥ the characteristics of Harbin Institut♦φ©εe of Technology's​↕↑  advantageous disciplines in roboticΩ∞♥s, Kinzon Capital is opti¶♣✘ mistic that Ruoyu Technol∞↔&ogy will become the leader of Chinaδ© 9;s multimodal large mo÷≈del robot "brain"σ↕∞↑; in the future."