Xudong Cao

Xudong Cao is the founder, CEO, and partner of Momenta, the autonomous-driving company he established in 2016 after leaving SenseTime . A Tsinghua University graduate, he previously worked at Microsoft Research Asia and SenseTime, building more than a decade of experience in AI research and management before starting his own venture . Momenta received angel investment from ZhenFund in its founding year, and by mid-2024 roughly 100,000 vehicles on Chinese roads were running its self-driving software . In April 2026, at Momenta's tenth-anniversary event, Cao appeared on stage with the firm's other partners to unveil the R7 reinforcement-learning world model, which the company framed as the moment "physical AI" moved from concept to mass production . He has also been named to Fortune China's "40 Under 40" business elite list .