"Funding and personnel—these two themes have dominated the narrative surrounding the six major AI players over the past year."
On New Year's Eve, Kimi, one of China's six leading large model companies, announced it had secured 3.5 billion yuan in funding.
This major update followed the executive change in early December involving Zhang Yutong, President of Moonshot AI. Funding and personnel—indeed, the stories of these six giants have largely revolved around these two elements throughout the year.
For these six key players, the past year marked a dramatic shift from being "darling of capital" to facing a "ruthless reshuffle," with their diverging fates becoming an undeniable reality.
Executive Shuffles and Strategic Focus
Over the past year, frequent executive turbulence has affected all "six giants" without exception. As the industry charges forward, these personnel changes reflect not only the need for talent renewal but also internal demands for corporate strategic adjustments.
The trend was evident, from the departure of several senior executives at Baichuan AI to a series of密集 appointments at 01.AI, making personnel adjustments an unavoidable "required question" for these firms.
A review identifies over 20 significant personnel changes within the six major large model companies in 2025, encompassing departures, new appointments, and promotions.
The most notable event occurred in March 2025, with the collective departure of multiple senior executives from Baichuan AI. Co-founder and Commercialization Head Hong Tao; Co-founder and Internet Business Head Jiao Ke; Co-founder Chen Weipeng; Financial Business Head Deng Jiang; and Healthcare Business Head Li Shizheng all chose to leave.
Reports suggest that after this exodus, only founder Wang Xiaochuan and Co-founder Ru Liyun remained from the original founding team. Following the executive shake-up, Wang Xiaochuan adjusted the company's business direction in April 2025, officially focusing on four key areas: "Baixiaoying, AI Pediatrics, AI General Practice, and Precision Medicine."
In contrast to the departures at Baichuan AI, 01.AI appointed numerous senior executives during the year.
As the first among the group to abandon proprietary large model development in favor of an enterprise application platform, 01.AI also experienced the departure of a key leader in the first half of 2025. However, in October that year, the company deepened its ToB strategy by密集 appointing several executives. This included former Baidu Intelligent Cloud China Regional Vice President Shen Pengfei, who joined as a Co-founder. Additionally, early core team member Zhao Binqiang was promoted to Vice President of AI Models and Professional User Products, focusing on model platform technology and professional product system development. Furthermore, Ning Ning, who joined 01.AI in early 2024, was formally promoted to Vice President of International Business and AI Consulting, responsible for global business expansion and AI consulting system construction.
Beyond these cases, Zhang Yutong's official appearance as President of Moonshot AI in December 2025, after leaving GSR Ventures, also attracted significant media attention.
Zhipu AI, which recently filed for an IPO, was not immune to personnel adjustments either. Chief Strategy Officer Zhang Kuo and Vice President Qu Teng both left in January 2025. Zhipu's CFO Peng Jianbiao departed in May 2025, and COO Zhang Fan also left in July of the same year.
In comparison, the personnel changes at MiniMax and Stepfun seemed relatively "calm." After the departure of product head and Vice President Wei Wei, MiniMax adjusted its business direction to focus more intensely on technology and ToC applications. In September, it launched a "Million-Dollar Stock Option Incentive Plan" aimed at attracting AGI talent.
In December, former Doubao PC Head Qi Junyuan, from ByteDance, joined Stepfun. He is expected to drive product innovation and commercialization in the areas of end-cloud collaborative AI architecture and hardware AI assistants. Overall, these personnel shifts stem from two primary factors: business strategy adjustments necessitating talent structure optimization, and commercial pressures driving management iteration.
In the short term, the loss of core talent can easily trigger team instability, causing temporary stagnation in both technology development and commercialization efforts.
In the long run, however, these adjustments facilitate strategic focus and team optimization. For instance, Baichuan AI strengthened its resource integration capabilities in the healthcare vertical by bringing in executives with industrial investment backgrounds.
It is crucial to note that this executive reshuffle has accelerated the differentiation among the six giants. Companies坚守 on general models are further increasing R&D investment, while those pivoting to the application layer are forming commercial closed loops more rapidly.
Capital Gameplay: Alibaba and TENCENT's Active Moves, ByteDance's Absence
Among the six major large model startups, both the TENCENT and Alibaba ecosystems have invested in five of them.
While personnel changes represent a path of self-directed reform, capital infusion injects vigorous momentum into corporate development.
Reviewing the funding histories of these companies reveals that the most financing activity in 2025 occurred around Zhipu AI, MiniMax, and Moonshot AI.
According to official data from Tianyancha, 01.AI and Baichuan AI among the six giants did not disclose any funding activities in 2025, with their last recorded financing rounds remaining in 2024.
Regarding Stepfun, in July 2025, Cailian Press released an exclusive report stating that the company was undergoing a new funding round exceeding $500 million, although no official disclosure has confirmed this.
In 2025, Zhipu AI, MiniMax, and Moonshot AI conducted 6, 3, and 1 financing activities, respectively. Notably, Moonshot AI disclosed its Series C round on December 31st, raising $500 million with major investors including Alibaba, TENCENT, and IDG Capital, resulting in a post-money valuation of $4.3 billion.
The funding trajectories of the currently sought-after Zhipu AI and MiniMax clearly indicate they have become the darlings of capital markets.
Zhipu AI's funding actions throughout 2025 were particularly striking. It not only completed its final pre-IPO funding round but also achieved a post-money valuation早已 exceeding RMB 20 billion. According to the latest disclosures, after initiating its public offering on December 30th, Zhipu AI is scheduled to officially list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 8th, earning the title of the "world's first large model stock." Its prospectus discloses an IPO price of HK$116.2 per share, with an expected total fundraising of approximately HK$4.3 billion.
MiniMax is also heading towards a Hong Kong listing, favored by capital. Since the second half of 2025, MiniMax has completed three financing rounds, accumulating over $750 million from investors including Alibaba, the Shanghai Municipal State-owned Parent Fund, IDG Capital, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
While 01.AI, Stepfun, and Baichuan AI did not disclose funding activities, Baichuan AI founder Wang Xiaochuan has repeatedly stated publicly that the company maintains sufficient cash flow, and the earlier executive departures were not due to financial pressure.
Sources indicate that 01.AI, which has been rarely seen in capital markets, is currently focusing on industrial large models and enterprise applications like its "Wanzhi Enterprise Agent," prioritizing its B-end business. The company has not revealed any明确的上市计划.
A key observation is that among these six companies, five have received investment from TENCENT, and similarly, five have garnered attention and investment from the Alibaba ecosystem.
Alibaba Cloud participated as a lead investor in 01.AI's angel round. Furthermore, as a业务关联方, it maintains various connections with 01.AI.
As evident from the discussion, internet and tech giants like Alibaba, TENCENT, and Xiaomi are extending their AI ecosystem布局 by investing in these six players, providing more practical validation for the large model market.
The large model frenzy continues. From the "hundred-model war" to the验证 of commercialization, an industry consensus has emerged after years of优胜劣汰: this arena ultimately belongs to the giants.
Currently, within the camp of major large model players represented by Alibaba, TENCENT, and ByteDance, Alibaba and TENCENT have continued their typical CVC strategies with the six giants. ByteDance, perhaps confident enough in its own products, has not made any strategic or financial investments in them.
Overall, 2025 was a year of profound transformation for China's "Six AI Giants," moving from technological fervor to commercial implementation. Executive reshuffling became an inevitable choice for strategic focus, while product深耕 emerged as the core path to realizing value.
The successive listings of Zhipu AI and MiniMax undoubtedly increase pressure on the remaining four companies. Regardless of the environment, for the six giants, adhering to core technology, deepening scenario implementation, and optimizing business models will be key to navigating cycles. The ongoing interplay of capital, talent, and ecosystems will also propel China's large model industry from catching up to surpassing, securing a significant position in the global AI competition.
