(ECNS) -- The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, has emerged as a major destination for AI investment, with several companies securing funding worth billions of yuan this year.
In the first half of the year, eight leading AI companies based in Beijing E-Town raised more than 15 billion yuan ($2.1 billion), spanning fields including world models, AI chips and AI-generated content, the official data released by the E-Town shows.
AI video and world-model developer AIsphere recently completed its Series C funding round, raising a total of 2.98 billion yuan ($414 million). The funding will support the development of its video-generation foundation models, real-time world models and industrial applications, according to news released by the E-Town.
Automotive chipmaker SemiDrive Technology completed a Series C funding round worth nearly $100 million in May. World-model company VAST secured more than 1 billion yuan ($139 million) in strategic investment in July, bringing the total raised in its Series A funding rounds to nearly 3 billion yuan ($417 million).
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), Beijing E-Town established government-guided funds totaling about 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion).
It has also recently launched four new industrial investment funds with a combined value of 20 billion yuan, including an 8-billion-yuan fund focused on AI and integrated circuits.
Beijing E-Town said during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030) it will continue to expand support for AI development across the entire industry chain, from computing infrastructure and algorithms to models and applications.
（By Helen Mo, intern Liu Shuangjing)
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