China's large model sector has been hit by a "major bomb." Shanghai-based startup StepZen officially announced that it has completed a B+ round financing of over 5 billion RMB. This figure not only sets a new record for the highest single investment in the domestic large model field over the past 12 months, but also marks a new phase in the competition of domestic foundation models, characterized by increased capital and talent investment.

This round of financing features an extremely impressive lineup of top industry investors. The participants include well-known institutions such as Shangguotou Pioneer Fund, China Life Equity, Pudong Venture Capital, and Xuhui Capital. At the same time, long-term shareholders such as Tencent, Qiming Venture Partners, and Sequoia Capital have also chosen to continue investing, demonstrating a high degree of consensus from the capital market on StepZen's technical path and commercial prospects.

At the same time as the funding comes in, StepZen's core management team has also undergone a key upgrade. It was officially announced that a senior expert in the field of artificial intelligence, Yin Qi, has taken office as the company's chairman, fully responsible for formulating the company's strategic rhythm and technical direction. Yin Qi will join CEO Jiang Daxin, Chief Scientist Zhang Xiangyu, and CTO Zhu Yibo to form a "four-person core team," jointly promoting the R&D of fundamental large models and accelerating the commercialization of "AI + terminal."

It is understood that this huge sum of 5 billion RMB will be precisely invested in the research and development of the basic model. StepZen will develop a world-class base model and use it as a support to accelerate the strategic application of AI intelligence on various terminals such as mobile phones and PCs, building a complete closed loop from the underlying technology to the commercial terminal.