36Kr's Under 36 2026: How China's Young Founders Are Rewriting the Rules in AI and Robotics

On July 9, 2026, the Chinese outlet 36Kr published the list of winners of its annual Under 36 ranking of entrepreneurs and scientists under the age of 36. More than 50 of the people on the list are building startups or doing research in artificial intelligence and robotics.

Who made the list

The honorees range in age from 23 to 36. The youngest is Chen Yuanpei, founder of Lingchu Zhineng (灵初智能), a company developing intelligent agents for general-purpose manipulation tasks: at 23 he already runs his own startup, while his peers are preparing to defend their dissertations.

Jiang Zheyuan dropped out of a doctoral program at Tsinghua University and founded Songyan Dongli (松延动力); his humanoid robot performed at the CCTV New Year gala. Shang Yangxing took a leave of absence from the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and, at 27, made his company Qiaojie Shuwu profitable in its first year of operation.

• The youngest honoree is Chen Yuanpei, 23, founder of Lingchu Zhineng
• More than 50 of the honorees work in AI or robotics
• Xia Lixue of Infinigence AI (无问芯穹) has ranked in the world's top 2% of scientists on Stanford's list five years in a row
• Shao Tianlan of Mech-Mind (梅卡曼德) has taken the company's products to 50+ countries in nine years
• Yu Chao of Luming Robotics cut the time to collect one unit of data from 50 to 10 seconds

How the technology paths diverged

Embodied intelligence, meaning AI and robotics that interact physically with the world, accounts for the largest group of honorees, but their business models differ radically. Yu Chao bet on data: his own collection system cut the time per recording from 50 to 10 seconds, and the cost to one-fifth of a traditional solution. Chen Wancai of Quanzhibo chose mass production of joint modules for robots: in three years and six funding rounds, the company reached shipments of 100,000 units a year. Xu Jincheng of PaXini bet on tactile sensors; his bionic hand with built-in microsensors drew attention at the industrial trade fair in Hannover.

Among the more established honorees is Shao Tianlan of Mech-Mind, who returned from Germany at 27 and in nine years took the company's products to more than 50 countries; in China's domestic market, the company has held the top share for five years running. Wang Xingxing of Unitree (宇树科技) brought robots out of a narrow geek niche and into the mainstream.

What this means

According to 36Kr, the gap between a scientific paper and a startup launch has shrunk sharply. Previously, a scientist went into business after defending a thesis, doing a postdoc and spending several years at a large company, which put them closer to age forty. Now papers and prototypes turn into companies almost instantly. The outlet draws a parallel with the observation of the historian of science Thomas Kuhn: revolutionary breakthroughs are more often made by young people, simply because they have not yet been conditioned to the old paradigm.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the youngest winner of Under 36 2026?

Chen Yuanpei. He is 23 and the founder of Lingchu Zhineng (灵初智能), which develops intelligent agents for general-purpose manipulation tasks.

How many honorees work in AI and robotics?

According to 36Kr, more than 50 of the ranked entrepreneurs and scientists run startups or conduct research related to artificial intelligence or robotics.