Zhao Tongyang

Zhao Tongyang (赵同阳, pinyin: Zhào Tóngyáng) is a Chinese serial robotics entrepreneur, founder and chief executive of EngineAI (深圳市众擎机器人科技有限公司, Shenzhen Zhongqing Robotics Technology Co. Ltd.), the Shenzhen-based humanoid-robotics company he established in October 2023 after roughly eight years across IoT, quadruped robotics, and the XPeng robotics division. He founded Dogotix in 2016 and Shenzhen Pengxing Intelligent Research with XPeng Motors after 2018, then served as general manager of XPeng Robotics from 2021 to 2023 before leaving to found EngineAI with intellectual property carried from the Pengxing venture. As of May 2026, he continues to serve as founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of EngineAI, with the SE01, PM01, and T800 humanoid platforms in market and a $200 million Series B round closed in April 2026.

At a glance

• Education: Engineering background; specific university affiliation less publicly itemised than at competitor founders.
• Current role: Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of EngineAI since October 2023.
• Notable prior affiliations: Founder of an IoT-devices business (2012); founder of Dogotix (2016, quadruped robotics); co-founder of Shenzhen Pengxing Intelligent Research with XPeng Motors (post-2018); general manager of XPeng Robotics (2021 to 2023), leading a 400-person research team across Beijing, Shenzhen, and Silicon Valley.
• Key contributions: Founder of Dogotix, which launched a quadruped robot in 2020 that dominated the global market and was acquired by XPeng in December 2020; led the XPeng Robotics organisation through the PX5 humanoid development (2023); founder of EngineAI with the SE01 (October 2024), PM01 (December 2024), and T800 (2025 to 2026) humanoid platforms; world's first humanoid-robot front-flip demonstration (February 2025).
• Recognition: Featured at CES 2025 and CES 2026 with humanoid demonstrations; included in Chinese state-media coverage of the country's "Iron Legion" of humanoid founders alongside Wang Xingxing, Jiang Zheyuan, and Wang He; CCTV "Setting Sail 2025" New Year Gala SE01 debut.

Origins

Zhao's early-career background is less publicly profiled than the higher-visibility Chinese humanoid founders. Industry coverage places him in his mid-30s as of 2026 (born in approximately 1990) and refers to roughly eight years of robotics-industry experience before founding EngineAI. He began his entrepreneurial career in 2012 with an IoT-devices business, and used the proceeds from that venture to invest in bipedal-humanoid-robotics research in 2016, an early date for the Chinese humanoid market.

The 2016 founding of Dogotix marked Zhao's first dedicated robotics venture. Dogotix developed high-performance bionic quadruped robots and, by 2020, launched a quadruped platform that rapidly captured global market share. Industry coverage credits the Dogotix quadruped as a foundational design that contributed to the technical lineage that subsequently flowed into both XPeng Robotics and EngineAI.

Career

Dogotix was acquired by XPeng Motors in December 2020. Zhao co-founded Shenzhen Pengxing Intelligent Research Co. Ltd. with XPeng Motors during this period (after 2018) to continue quadruped-and-humanoid robotics research within the XPeng corporate structure. Following the acquisition, Zhao served as general manager of XPeng Robotics from 2021 to 2023, leading a research-and-engineering team that reached approximately 400 people across Beijing, Shenzhen, and Silicon Valley locations. The XPeng Robotics tenure produced the PX5 humanoid platform in early 2023, the company's first bipedal-humanoid output.

Zhao left XPeng Robotics in 2023 and incorporated EngineAI on October 23, 2023 (formally registered in October 2023, with operations beginning shortly thereafter). He took intellectual property from the Pengxing Intelligent venture with him, and the EngineAI core team was drawn substantially from the Pengxing/XPeng Robotics organisation. The company is headquartered in the Shenzhen Bay Innovation and Technology Center in Nanshan District, Shenzhen. The founding capital included an angel round of approximately 100 million yuan.

The SA01 bipedal robot launched in July 2024 at a price of 38,500 yuan, the company's first bipedal-humanoid product output. The SE01 full-size general-purpose humanoid (170 cm tall, 55 kg) was unveiled on October 24, 2024 and subsequently appeared at the CCTV "Setting Sail 2025" New Year Gala. The PM01 general-purpose humanoid (138 cm tall) launched in December 2024 as a smaller-form-factor research-and-developer variant. The T800 platform, with combat-and-impact-resistance capability, debuted at CES 2026, with Zhao publicly accepting a controlled kick from the T800 in a viral demonstration video that addressed CGI scepticism about the company's earlier output. EngineAI closed a $200 million Series B financing round on April 9, 2026.

The company's most-watched single demonstration was a February 2025 video showing the world's first front-flip performed by a humanoid robot, with Zhao's PM01 (or in some coverage, a related platform) executing the manoeuvre. The motion-control sophistication of the demonstration drew international technology-media coverage and positioned EngineAI alongside Boston Dynamics in the conversation about humanoid dynamic-locomotion capability. Subsequent demonstrations including the T800's combat-and-kick interactions have reinforced the company's distinctive demonstration-video brand position.

Industry coverage in 2025 and 2026 has identified Zhao as one of the founders of the Chinese "Iron Legion" of humanoid robotics, alongside Wang Xingxing of Unitree, Jiang Zheyuan, and Wang He, the four founders most-frequently credited with the Chinese humanoid cluster's competitive emergence at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala 2026.

Affiliations

• IoT-devices business: Founder, 2012.
• Dogotix: Founder, 2016; company acquired by XPeng in December 2020.
• Shenzhen Pengxing Intelligent Research: Co-founder with XPeng Motors, post-2018.
• XPeng Robotics: General Manager, 2021 to 2023.
• EngineAI: Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, October 2023 to present.

Notable contributions

• Founding Dogotix (2016). One of the first Chinese-founded dedicated quadruped-robotics ventures; produced a global-market-share-capturing quadruped by 2020.
• XPeng acquisition and XPeng Robotics leadership (December 2020 to 2023). Led a 400-person research team across Beijing, Shenzhen, and Silicon Valley, producing the PX5 humanoid platform in 2023 as XPeng's first bipedal humanoid output.
• Founding EngineAI (October 2023). Established the company with intellectual property carried from Pengxing/XPeng, and built the engineering organisation that produced the SE01, PM01, and T800 product line.
• SE01 humanoid robot (October 2024). Led the development of EngineAI's first full-size general-purpose humanoid; CCTV "Setting Sail 2025" New Year Gala debut.
• PM01 humanoid robot (December 2024). Smaller-form-factor research-and-developer SKU, 138 cm tall.
• World's first humanoid front-flip demonstration (February 2025). Led the company through the dynamic-locomotion demonstration that established EngineAI's distinctive motion-control positioning globally.
• T800 humanoid platform (2025 to 2026). Combat-and-impact-resistance-capable humanoid, debuted at CES 2026; the controlled-kick demonstration with Zhao on-screen drew significant international coverage.
• Series B round (April 2026). Closed approximately $200 million Series B financing, positioning EngineAI in the funded mid-tier of the Chinese humanoid cluster.

Open questions

• Production-volume scaling. SE01 and PM01 shipments through 2025 have been in the low-to-mid hundreds. Whether the demonstration capability translates to production-volume scaling into thousands of units annually, in line with the cluster leaders, will be the central watchable question for 2026 and 2027.
• AI-foundation-model capability disclosures. The motion-control capability has been EngineAI's headline differentiator. Whether the AI stack catches up to the mechanical capability, and whether Zhao partners with a Chinese frontier lab (DeepSeek, Alibaba Qwen, Moonshot AI) or develops AI capability in-house, will define the company's long-term competitive position.
• XPeng-relationship-and-IP boundary. EngineAI was founded with intellectual property carried from the Pengxing/XPeng Robotics venture. The boundary between EngineAI's IP and the continuing XPeng Robotics organisation, and whether there is any commercial or legal friction over the boundary, will be informative for the strategic relationship between the two companies.
• Public-profile development. Zhao has been less publicly visible than Wang Xingxing or Peng Zhihui. Whether his public profile grows in 2026 and 2027, particularly through industry forums, government-summit appearances, or media interviews, will affect the company's brand-and-recruiting position.

Sources

• Engine AI on Wikipedia. Corporate history including founding date, products, and Zhao's career trajectory.
• Zhao Tongyang (赵同阳) on The Wire China. Biographical entry covering the multi-venture trajectory from IoT into robotics.
• Engine AI: China's High-Speed Contender Shakes Up the Humanoid Robot Race. Humanoids Daily coverage of EngineAI's strategic positioning.
• Robotic acrobatics: Chinese start-up impresses with world's first frontflip by a robot. South China Morning Post coverage of the February 2025 front-flip demonstration.
• EngineAI's CEO-kicking, combat-ready humanoid robots dazzle CES 2026. Interesting Engineering coverage of the T800 demonstration at CES 2026.
• Former Xpeng autonomous driving chief to join robotics startup EngineAI. CnEVPost coverage of the EngineAI leadership build-out.
• China's "Iron Legion": Wang Xingxing, Jiang Zheyuan, Wu Changzheng and Wang He and the Breakthrough Year of Embodied Intelligence. The Icons coverage placing Zhao in the Chinese humanoid-founder cohort.
• Companion profile: EngineAI for the corporate context, product line, and competitive positioning.