An authentic look at China's AI and robotics industry

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Last week, the Baiguan team successfully concluded our second-ever China Tour, focusing on the AI and robotics ecosystem in Shanghai. 19 investors, family offices, and entrepreneurs from the US, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia, and Australia (including one returnee from our first tour) joined us for a 2.5-day, event-packed tour that included conversations with founders and C-suite of:Minimax (0100.HK), one of China’s leading AI playersBlack Lake Technologies, China’s leading manufacturing AI company (a day before they officially announced their Unicorn-status Series-D fundraise)Fourier Robotics, a leading robotic maker with roots in healthcare exoskeletonA conversation about the future of autonomous driving with an angel investor of Pony.ai, one of China’s leading L4 robotaxi companies, followed by a test rideA frank presentation by Baiguan’s tech lead on the pros and cons of various domestic and foreign AI models from a user’s perspective.A visit to the Shanghai Foundational Model Center (SMC), a leading incubator of Chinese AI startups, with presentations by Cyber Partner (robotics implementation specialist), IO-AI Tech (robotics data collection), Nieta (AI-native virtual characters), and Investmate (AI-native personal finance tool)There are many takeaways from our participants. Here are the top 5 common ones I find.#1 A new generation of entrepreneurs and local talents has finally arrivedMost of the participants are very impressed by the startup founders we have met. One participant, who used to work as a senior executive at a Mag7 firm, told me this cohort of Chinese fou…