Yunqi Capital's Back-to-Work Special: 17 "AI Moments" From the Lunar New Year at a Tech VC Firm
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This Spring Festival, AI's democratizing penetration felt more tangible than ever — a qualitative leap from "technological variable" to "everyday normalcy" is underway.
The domestic model "Spring Festival season" kicked off before the holiday even began. Yunqi's first investment, MiniMax, released its M2.5 series models, achieving all-around capability improvements with extreme optimization of inference efficiency and cost, topping the OpenRouter platform in call volume. Seedance 2.0, Zhipu AI's GLM, and other multi-path breakthroughs also gained global recognition on leaderboards; Moonshot AI's Spring Festival revenue surged past its entire 2024 total.
Capital markets responded with their own pricing. After the holiday, as Hong Kong stocks reopened, "pure AI plays" represented by MiniMax hit new highs, with market capital migrating from traditional internet logic toward hardcore AI core assets.
Beyond the numbers, AI's deep integration with the physical world carried its own signal value: from the Spring Festival Gala's extensive robot collaboration, to "digital New Year customs" reaching millions of households, to fleeting moments during homebound journeys, reunion dinners, and hometown street corners...
This Spring Festival, Yunqi folks also captured "New Year AI Moments" brimming with human warmth in the interstices of holiday atmosphere — documenting AI's pivot from "silicon-based intelligence" to "daily life."
As we return to work, here's what our YQ team observed at full throttle.
From Parameters to "New Year Goods": AIGC's Festive Warmth
If the breakout "digital New Year good" of the last Year of the Horse (2014) was WeChat red envelopes, this Year of the Horse witnessed AIGC's "social currency-ization." Through generational leaps in video generation logic and consistency, leading visual models like Hailuo AI and Seedance have brought high-quality video creation close to zero threshold.
Just as tapping a screen once sufficed to send red envelopes, now a single template or voice clip generates deeply affecting video. AIGC video is taking up the baton of "digital New Year goods," becoming warmer, more emotional social infrastructure.
A "Gentle Magic Trick" for Adults
Yunqi observation:
"The most popular thing in the family group chat wasn't red envelopes — it was those 'talking' AIGC New Year greeting videos. The little toddler in photos who could only suck his fingers was now articulating greetings with clasped hands. Through AI, grandparents' longing to hear 'grandma, grandpa' from their grandchildren got 'prepaid,' and the joy was genuine."
The "Red Envelope Cat" Leaping Off-Screen and New Effects
Yunqi observation:
"Scrolling short videos, I saw a cat using AIGC effects to nimbly 'jump' beyond the frame's boundary, triggering a cascade of red envelopes. Such low-threshold effects let ordinary people with zero professional skills execute highly creative expressions, playing with holiday atmosphere in fresh ways."
From Search Box to AI Dialogue Box: A Cross-Generational "Interaction Revolution"
In the "hundred-model Spring Festival season" traffic competition, AI is evolving beyond a tool-like search entry toward "anthropomorphization and companionship." As AI develops higher emotional intelligence and comprehension, it's gradually bridging generational gaps from children to elderly, becoming a digital companion for everyone.
A Four-Year-Old's "Cyber Playhouse"
Yunqi observation:
"Back in my fourth-tier hometown, during a dinner break, I saw my 4-year-old niece chatting away with Doubao, cradling her doll. She skillily snapped a photo and sent it over, asking in her baby voice: 'How should I take care of it?'
Perhaps for this generation of 'AI natives,' AI isn't some high-tech thing — it's just an ordinary playmate that catches their whimsical ideas and plays 'house' with them."
Chatbots "Winning Big": The Whole Family's Encyclopedia
Yunqi observation:
"This year, it really felt like Doubao and its ilk had permeated daily life. My kid got obsessed with using AI to generate images of his favorite coins, then printing them for a 'Year of the Horse commemorative album.' Meanwhile, the elderly in my family gradually got used to asking Doubao whenever something puzzled them. From generating creative content to answering questions, AI is replacing the traditional search box, becoming the whole family's all-purpose assistant."
Overseas AI Understands Chinese Feng Shui?
Yunqi observation:
"Chatting with TV station friends during the holiday, I discovered Gemini fortune-telling had become surprisingly popular in their circles. What's fascinating is how large models interpret 'destiny' and 'feng shui' — these Eastern elements get deconstructed as 'ancient UI design.' I tried it myself and found it quite interesting. Gemini's readings felt more conversational and accessible, without too much arcane Five Elements jargon."
From Demo to Street Corner: Embodied Intelligence "Reporting for Duty"
This Spring Festival 2026, we also witnessed embodied intelligence moving from "fragmented" toward "panoramic."
This wasn't merely "high-traffic testing" at the Spring Festival Gala or super-first-tier cities, but deeper penetration across broader geographic radiuses and at the margins of people's livelihoods. As technological breakthroughs met application deployment, a consensus took concrete form: embodied intelligence is no longer an expensive lab demo, but becoming tangible "digital infrastructure" in the physical world.
Robots "In Action" Amid Holiday Atmosphere
Astribot: The "AI Shopkeeper" at the Forbidden City Temple Fair
At the Beijing Dadu New Year Temple Fair, Astribot's S1 robot transformed into an "AI shopkeeper" selling Forbidden City cultural creative products, and served as an "AI fortune bringer" interacting with visitors. As the world's first mass-produced cable-driven robot, the S1 leveraged high-fidelity fine force control and end-to-end large model capabilities to autonomously complete voice reception, payment collection, and delicate grasping amid dense crowds. The S1 also appeared on the Tibet Spring Festival Gala stage. Learn more
Realman Intelligent: The "AI Chef" on the Spring Festival Gala Stage
Realman Intelligent's RealBOT humanoid robot appeared on Beijing TV's Spring Festival Gala. Through its self-developed remote operations network (GLN), it achieved real-time linkage between the training center and the gala recording site — executing high-difficulty tasks while accumulating real-scenario data. Learn more
Luoyang Highways and Qingdao Communities: The Popularization Path of Unmanned Delivery
Yunqi observation:
"Returning to my hometown of Luoyang, Henan for the holiday, I was thrilled to spot our portfolio company Neolix's unmanned vehicle flashing by on the national highway — and moving at decent speed.
Yunqi observation:
In 2025, Neolix unmanned vehicles partnered with DiDi to launch the first batch of "instant freight" services in my hometown Qingdao. I didn't make it back this Spring Festival, so I had my mom experience unmanned delivery firsthand. The convenience stunned her, and infected me through the screen. The 3-minute video runs a bit long, but feels authentic. The final shot of the delivery worker and unmanned vehicle's "eye contact" lingers memorably.
"Robot Parties" on Metropolitan Streets
Yunqi observation:
"During the holiday, I noticed Shanghai had opened quite a few offline robot experience stores. Those concepts once confined to pitch decks are now materializing as bed-making robots, cooling robots, toy robots... marching into public view in groups.
Yunqi observation:
The robot dog on the left (Xiamen) nimbly "bounced" through crowds, offering "New Year greetings," surrounded by wave after wave of adults and children — the kids especially took initiative to interact up close. The embodied robot on the right (Shanghai) was the sole staff member at a blind box shop, independently handling sales, payment collection, retrieving blind boxes from shelves, and delivering them to customers.
Hard tech's commercialization path is growing "softer," more user-adjacent. Integrating into daily entertainment, interactive experiences, entering young people's emotional consumption.
"AI Private Coaches" of the Spring Festival
Yunqi observation:
"This Spring Festival, I tried out the AceMate tennis robot. It could set forehand-backhand alternation and rally precisely. This kind of AI robot targeting niche vertical scenarios is extremely beginner-friendly."
From "Geek Toy" to "Novice Helper": Intelligent Driving's "Apple Moment"
Beyond robots and unmanned vehicles, intelligent driving is also reshaping our connection with physical space. Over the past year, we've witnessed portfolio companies like DeepRoute.ai and Yitu Technology, through rapid technological iteration and solid commercial deployment, bring intelligent driving into more people's daily lives.
This Spring Festival, Yunqi folks personally experienced intelligent driving's leap from "assistance tool" to "trusted companion."
Intelligent Driving: "Can't Go Back Once You've Used It"
Yunqi observation:
"As someone who hadn't touched a steering wheel in over a year, this Spring Festival I first experienced full intelligent driving for 7 kilometers through nighttime flowing traffic. Initially tense with toes curled, watching the system handle U-turns, lane changes, and cut-ins more decisively and steadily than I could, I suddenly understood what my friend meant: 'It's like switching from Nokia to iPhone — once you've used it, you can't go back.'"
Haikou Autonomous Driving Field Test: Functional, Comfortable, But Hasn't Learned "Social Nuance"
Yunqi observation:
"This Spring Festival in Haikou, I field-tested 'Apollo Go.' The vehicle ran extremely steadily on main roads and elevated highways, with cabin comfort maxed out. But at unsignaled intersections in old districts, the algorithm remained too 'polite,' and with abundant local electric scooters and motorcycles, the little car still needs to learn the 'social nuance' of negotiating traffic.
The unexpected delight was Haikou drivers and pedestrians' high tolerance for Apollo Go — many vehicles actively yielded, creating a friendly environment for technology deployment.
Overall, unmanned vehicles already demonstrate mature practical value on urban arterial roads during off-peak hours, though complex narrow streets and peak congestion scenarios still need optimization. Going forward, focused refinement of localized traffic decision-making, bringing technology closer to real road habits, balancing safety and efficiency, will unlock greater commercial potential."
From Efficiency Tool to Business Logic: The Invisible "Efficiency Revolution"
The underlying support for "AI democratization" comes from qualitative leaps in inference efficiency. As algorithms and compute grow cheaper and more instantaneous, AI is no longer merely an independent entry point or efficiency tool, but becomes invisible commercial infrastructure embedded in advertising marketing, travel planning, content consumption, and other scenarios — transforming into the most direct value logic across industries.
NBA Sideline Advertising's "Great Transformation": A Decade of Commercial Ecosystem Change
Yunqi observation:
"This holiday at the Golden State Warriors' home court across the ocean, what changed wasn't just the venue, but the comprehensive upgrade of the commercial ecosystem. Looking back to 2016, sideline advertising was straightforward and passionate, dominated by traditional consumer and financial brands. By 2026, tech giants lead sponsorship, with AI and data empowerment turning every dunk into a tech narrative.
Basketball has evolved from competitive stage to tech ecosystem, much as the Warriors transformed from Oakland legend into Silicon Valley's tech calling card."
"Digital Guide" on a Macau Journey
Yunqi observation:
"Traveling to Macau for the Spring Festival, I tried an AI planning app called Yuanzhou Travel Journal to plan my entire itinerary. Simply input destination and days, and it automatically generated a complete route plan, flexibly adjusting based on my preferences.
This large model-based logical orchestration eliminates tedious travel research, rapidly generating sensible route plans with clear itinerary visualization. Perhaps technology's most successful state is making people 'not feel technology's presence,' leaving only extreme efficiency."
"Cyber Cameraman" at the Three Confucian Sites
Yunqi observation:
"At Qufu's Three Confucian Sites, I experienced 'cyber camerawork.' After visiting, simply scan your face and pay, and AI precisely 'fishes out' your figure from tens of thousands of visitors. Previously, capturing such footage required painfully holding selfie sticks above crowds. This efficient travel recording experience was delightful.
From Digital World to Starry Sea: "Full Throttle" Toward Frontier Technology
As AIGC flattens content production barriers, "authenticity" becomes a higher-order premium.
As AI integrates into daily life, people begin asking: when logic and aesthetics can be mass-generated, how do we anchor trust's boundaries?
Discussions on AI democratization and misuse are also moving from social topics toward societal consensus — we need not only ever-evolving "brains" (AI), but also "vessels" that carry civilization. The frontier of human civilization still depends on the real, pulsing physical heartbeat between earth and deep space.
"Human Presence": The New Admission Ticket for High-Order Trust
Yunqi observation:
"This Spring Festival, my mom told me about new university grant application rules: beyond standard materials, applicants must submit a video of themselves explaining their proposal in person.
This struck me. When AI can write 100-point proposals, the competition shifts from who has more 'literary talent' to who has more 'human flavor.' This insistence on 'real human presence' is actually society helping us reclaim irreplaceable creativity. 'Human presence' is becoming the scarcest admission ticket in the AI era."
Wenchang Launch: The "Certainty" Leading to the Starry Sea
Yunqi observation:
This Year of the Horse's New Year, I witnessed a rocket launch at Wenchang and visited the rocket museum, experiencing firsthand the awe of national heavy equipment soaring skyward. From single-arrow launches to space station sojourns, from lunar and interplanetary exploration to the vigorous takeoff of commercial aerospace — even during the Spring Festival, China's space program never paused, writing national confidence with each ascent.
As a technology investment institution, Yunqi also contributes capital to support national aerospace development. To personally witness and deeply participate in the rise of China's space industry, walking alongside these stargazers who keep their feet on the ground — pride and honor are overwhelming.
The AI-saturated Year of the Horse Spring Festival concludes, and we return to familiar workstations.
From greeting videos in family group chats, to robots and unmanned delivery vehicles threading through streets, technology has quietly become everyday. The visions sketched in pitch decks are becoming tangible "daily companions."
In the year ahead, life remains concrete, goals clearer. Yunqi will continue at full throttle, accompanying every entrepreneur who keeps their head down working and eyes up observing, steadily landing imaginative ideas in the soil of the physical world.
The new journey has begun — we YQ are at full "horsepower," setting out with steady steps!