The financing would rank GigaAI as the most valuable startup in China focusing on world models, he said, referring to systems designed to help AI better represent and predict how people and objects move. "Globally, we'll be the first to IPO among world model startups," Guan, formerly with Microsoft Research and Horizon Robotics, told Bloomberg News on the sidelines of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Founded in 2023, GigaAI focuses on world models, an alternative approach to AI that's thought to be useful for robotics, video games and self-driving cars, among other efforts. Investors have poured substantial sums into Western world model startups, including ventures from AI pioneers Fei-Fei Li and Yann LeCun. Chinese startups like GigaAI have taken the approach of building fast and close to the factory floor.