One of Asia’s top private equity funds is betting big on artificial intelligence and humanoid robots, envisioning a future where AI-powered implants are plugged into human brains, allowing people to experience the world in ways once confined to science fiction.
Xiang, who has been featured in the latest edition of Fortune China magazine’s 40 Chinese business elites under 40 released on Tuesday, said Hermitage would invest at least US$500 million in the AI and robotic sectors over the next three years.
With a decade of experience at Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan Chase before founding Hermitage Capital in 2017, Xiang said the company’s investments focused on building a global AI ecosystem, ranging from hardware like graphics processing units to large language models (LLMs) and intelligent robotics.
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China shows off latest AI innovations at international conference in Shanghai
China shows off latest AI innovations at international conference in Shanghai
He drew a parallel to humanoid robot making to illustrate his investment strategy. “You need a brain to process information, eyes to observe the world and blood as your power source,” he said. “It must also sense the external world and respond to it effectively. We’ve invested across all these areas, from foundational AI models to robot chips to solid-state batteries and home robots that free people from tedious chores.”
Computer vision led the first wave of AI’s evolution, which was now largely mature, Xiang said. “We are currently riding the natural processing language wave, dominated by LLMs. The foundation models’ valuation will still have a five to 10 times return potential.”
