Ex-OpenAI Engineer Enters Robotics Race with New Venture in China and Singapore

Former OpenAI engineer Roger Jiang has launched Light Robotics, a new venture focused on developing general-purpose robots, amid China’s accelerated push to expand its robotics industry. Established in August 2023, the company has offices in Singapore and Shenzhen, with plans to create consumer-facing companion robots, according to a report by Chinese tech news outlet 36Kr.

Jiang, who played a key role in building OpenAI’s GPT-4 through foundational reinforcement learning and data investigations, left OpenAI in June 2023 to pursue this endeavor. Operating under the name Liangyuan Xinchuang in Chinese, Light Robotics has already begun recruiting talent in Singapore and Shanghai, with an engineer currently based in Shanghai. Records from Chinese corporate database Qichacha show that Liangyuan Xinchuang Technology Limited Company was also registered in Shanghai in August.

The launch of Light Robotics coincides with China's intensified efforts to make humanoid robots a significant driver of economic growth. In November 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology set ambitious goals to mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025 and integrate them as a core engine of economic expansion by 2027.

China's robotics sector has seen an influx of support, including local government subsidies, such as Chongqing's pledge of up to 10 million yuan (US$1.37 million) for robotics companies. This year, Chinese tech firms have showcased nearly two dozen humanoid robots at expos in Beijing and Shanghai, highlighting the country’s rapid progress in robotics.

Jiang's Light Robotics joins a crowded field of domestic and international players, including Tesla’s Optimus, which debuted as the sole foreign competitor in recent industry events. With the central government prioritizing technological innovation and industrial modernization in its economic agenda, Jiang’s venture enters a dynamic and promising landscape for intelligent machines.