Li Auto Inc.

A Beijing EV maker that announced in 2026 it will build humanoid robots, calling autonomous driving embodied AI's first act.

Li Auto was founded in Beijing in 2015 by Xiang Li, known for extended-range and pure-electric SUVs; it listed on Nasdaq in July 2020 and on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in August 2021. At an all-staff meeting on January 26, 2026, Li said Li Auto “will definitely build humanoid robots, and will bring one to market as fast as possible”; in May he said “autonomous driving is the first act of embodied AI, and general-purpose humanoid robots are the second act.” Reports describe its robotics project under the codename Nexus, planning a factory-oriented two-wheeled robot and a bipedal humanoid, with the two-wheeled model due within 2026. Former autonomous-driving head Xianpeng Lang was reassigned to lead robot hardware early in the year before leaving to found Kunlunxing Robotics; CTO Kai Wang, who left even earlier, co-founded Simplexity Robotics.

ExampleLi broke down humanoid-robot generalization into three stages: reaching the level of a 6-year-old child by 2030–2035, a 12-year-old by 2035–2040, and something close to an 18-year-old around 2040 — a process he says will take 15 to 20 years.

Also called

Li Auto

Related

Automakers Entering Humanoid Robotics · Kunlunxing Robotics · Simplexity Robotics · Autonomous-Driving Talent Moving into Embodied AI · XPeng · Autonomous Driving

Sources

理想汽车内部会曝光：必做人形机器人（36氪，2026-01） (Chinese)
21独家｜理想汽车将在今年年内发布一款双轮机器人（21世纪经济报道，2026-03） (Chinese)
具身智能「上下半场」：李想在理想 L9 发布会上的表述（新浪财经，2026-05） (Chinese)

As of

2026-07