The global AI race just got a whole lot more intense. And this time, the shot comes from Beijing.
The Funding: $293 Million — Led by Alibaba Cloud
Chinese artificial intelligence startup ShengShu Technology has raised 2 billion yuan ($292.59 million) in a funding round led by Alibaba Cloud, as competition intensifies in China’s AI sector.
This isn’t a typical product-phase raise. ShengShu is swinging for something much bigger.
ShengShu said the funding would support development of a “general world model” that processes sensory information to simulate human perception and interaction — which the company describes as a step toward artificial general intelligence in physical environments.
AGI. In physical environments. That’s the stated goal — and Alibaba just wrote a $293 million cheque to back it.
Who Else Is Investing?
This is far from a solo bet by Alibaba.
The funding round included investments from Andon Haitang, China Internet Investment Fund, TAL Education Group, and Luminous Ventures.
The Beijing-based startup also drew backing from Baidu Ventures, and the capital injection comes just two months after the maker of the Vidu video generator raised 600 million yuan.
Let that sink in: two massive rounds in under two months. The urgency is real.
A Serial Fundraiser — And the Numbers Are Accelerating
ShengShu’s fundraising pace tells its own story.
| Round | Date | Amount |
| Series A+ | February 2026 | ¥600 Mn (~$86 Mn) |
| Latest Round | April 2026 | ¥2 Bn (~$293 Mn) |
| Combined 2026 Total | ~$379 Mn |
That’s close to $380 million raised in 2026 alone — and the year is barely three months old.
What Exactly Is ShengShu Technology?
Founded in March 2023, ShengShu was started by Tsinghua University professor Zhu Jun, who serves as its chief scientist. Its early backers include Qiming Venture Partners, Baidu Inc. and a Beijing government fund.
The startup built its name on one product: Vidu — China’s most advanced AI video generation platform.
ShengShu became the first Chinese company to release a video generation model when it launched Vidu in April 2024. The model was positioned as a competitor to OpenAI’s Sora, which the U.S. company later discontinued.
So while OpenAI shelved Sora, ShengShu kept building. And the results speak for themselves.
What is Vidu — and Why Does It Matter?
Vidu isn’t just another AI video tool. It’s a full-stack creative platform — and it’s ranked among the world’s best.
The recently released Vidu Q3 is the world’s first video model built for storytelling. It supports 16-second synchronized audio-video generation, native 1080p output, advanced cinematic language, precise shot transitions, multilingual text rendering, and multi-language output. According to the latest rankings from AI benchmarking authority Artificial Analysis, Vidu Q3 ranked No.1 in China and No.2 globally.
And the speed innovation is equally staggering:
In December 2025, ShengShu open-sourced its TurboDiffusion framework, enabling a 5-second video to be generated in just 1.9 seconds on a single RTX 5090 GPU — improving video generation efficiency by 100 to 200 times.
That’s not incremental improvement. That’s a generational leap.
Scale: Vidu Is Already Everywhere
This isn’t a lab experiment. Vidu has real-world scale.
ShengShu Technology has established a comprehensive product ecosystem built around Vidu, including Vidu MaaS, Vidu SaaS, Vidu App and Vidu Agent, serving content creators and industry clients globally. In 2025, the company achieved more than 10× growth in both users and revenue. Vidu is now widely used by creators, studios, and enterprises in over 200 countries and regions worldwide.
In film and entertainment — including animation, short drama and feature production — Vidu works with over 90% of industry stakeholders across content owners, tool providers and production studios. Clients and partners include Tencent Animation & Comics, China Literature, CCTV Animation, iQIYI, Jiangxi Film Group and Mango TV.
The Next Frontier: Robots and the Physical World
But Vidu is just Chapter One. ShengShu’s real ambition goes far beyond video.
The company has recently expanded into robotics applications. In December 2025, it open-sourced Motus, a model designed to control robots by processing multimodal data including video and audio.
This is where the “world model” thesis becomes clear. ShengShu wants to build AI that doesn’t just generate content — it wants AI that can understand, perceive and interact with the physical world. Robots. Real environments. Real intelligence.
The Competition: Everyone Wants a Piece of This Race
ShengShu is not operating in a vacuum. The AI video and world model space is fiercely contested.
ShengShu faces competition from Chinese technology giants including ByteDance, Alibaba and Kuaishou, which have all launched video generation models. Internationally, companies such as Google and startups including Runway are also developing similar technologies.
Vidu is in a capital-intensive race to develop video generation tools that has pulled in tech heavyweights like ByteDance, Alibaba and Kuaishou, as well as upstarts like PixVerse — which is also backed by Alibaba. They aim to fill the gap left after OpenAI shuttered its Sora project.
The fact that Alibaba is now backing both ShengShu and PixVerse tells you everything about how seriously China’s tech giants are taking this race.
Key Takeaways
| Detail | Info |
| Startup | ShengShu Technology |
| Headquarters | Beijing, China |
| Founded | March 2023 |
| Founder & Chief Scientist | Zhu Jun (Tsinghua University) |
| Round Lead | Alibaba Cloud |
| Amount Raised | ¥2 Bn (~$293 Mn) |
| Previous Round | ¥600 Mn (Feb 2026) |
| Key Product | Vidu AI Video Platform |
| Vidu Q3 Global Rank | No.1 China / No.2 Global |
| Use of Funds | General World Model + AGI development |
| Countries Reached | 200+ |
