Stepwise Star, a domestic general-purpose large model unicorn, officially announced that it will launch a new generation of intelligent agent terminals, bringing new answers to the Agent era. According to domestic media reports, Stepwise Star is about to launch an AI terminal brand, an intelligent agent system, and its first AI intelligent phone. This is also the first native intelligent agent phone terminal to be implemented by a global large model company, with a launch schedule earlier than OpenAI's AI terminal plans.
Insiders revealed that this AI intelligent phone is manufactured by Huqing Technology, a listed company on the A-share market. The two companies have a deep binding cooperative relationship, not a simple OEM model. Huqing Technology is a leading enterprise in the global smart hardware ODM industry, with shipment volumes of smartphones, laptops, and tablets exceeding 10% globally. It had already made a strategic investment during Stepwise Star's B+ round financing and continued to increase investments in the subsequent C round. Combined with companies such as Wowwa and ZTE, they jointly laid out the integrated supply chain for large models, complete machine manufacturing, imaging, and communication.
Shanghai AI Six Little Tigers, raising over 20 billion yuan to chase Hong Kong IPO
Stepwise Star was established in Shanghai in 2023 and is part of the Shanghai AI Six Little Tigers group. It was founded by Jiang Daxin, former vice president of Microsoft Global, with Yin Qi serving as chairman. The team gathers top AI research talents from Microsoft and ByteDance. The company has raised over 20 billion yuan in total, with consumer electronics industry chain enterprises such as ZTE, Huqing, Tencent, and Longqi participating in investments. It has completed the share reform and is now striving for a Hong Kong IPO. Its core strategy differs from pure cloud-based model vendors, focusing on the full-chain implementation of large models and terminal hardware. This differentiated positioning is the strategic foundation for its cross-industry mobile phone manufacturing.
