The archive · Hardware & Devices · Product decision · 2024–2026
Ludens AI's silent-robot bet: warm Cocomo draws CES 2026 buzz and retailer interest
Ex-DJI/Tesla engineer Xue Lijun founded Ludens AI in 2024 betting a speechless, warm, remembering robot beats chatbot toys.
Ludens AI (卢登斯智能)
What the business is
Ludens AI designs speechless companion robots—mobile 'robot pet' Cocomo and desktop 'alien puppy' INU—with edge-AI memory and shells that warm to near body temperature, aiming at global home and desk companionship.
Starting capital：Two rounds totalling tens of millions of RMB within roughly half a year: angel led by Linear Capital with Qingshuiwan Capital; angel+ added Japan's PKSHA Algorithm Fund; Qingshuiwan—the fund of Li Zexiang, an early DJI backer—followed across three rounds.
How it started
Xue Lijun studied at South China University of Technology and Carnegie Mellon, worked on Tesla's autopilot in Silicon Valley, led machine learning at DJI, then co-founded FITURE in 2019 and built its AI team. He founded Ludens AI in 2024—the name comes from Homo Ludens, 'the playing human'—after concluding his work kept making better tools, when he wanted AI that simply exists alongside people. The company put its HQ in Tokyo, its supply chain in Shenzhen and Dongguan, and chose CES Las Vegas for its first public appearance.
What happened
In about half a year Ludens AI closed two financing rounds announced in April 2026 (Linear Capital, Qingshuiwan Capital, PKSHA Algorithm Fund), unveiled Cocomo and INU at CES 2026 in January—drawing cameras, roughly 2,000 business cards and retailer interest—and planned Kickstarter plus Japan's Makuake for the second half of 2026, with pricing expected around RMB 2,000–3,000. Both robots run on its edge-native 'Klara OS', so most interaction happens on-device without the internet.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
Ludens AI (卢登斯智能) was founded in 2024 by Xue Lijun, an engineer who had worked on Tesla's autopilot, led machine learning at DJI, and co-founded smart-fitness company FITURE. His bet was that the next companion robot should not be a cleverer tool or a chatbot in a shell, but a presence: a robot that does nothing useful, never speaks, and still earns a place in people's homes.
The company's first robots—Cocomo, a wheeled, egg-shaped 'robot pet' with a shell that warms to 37–39°C, and INU, a desktop 'alien puppy'—communicate through hums, movements and temperature rather than words. Everything runs on an edge-native system called Klara OS, so most emotional interaction happens on-device without the internet. Ludens AI put its headquarters in Tokyo, kept its supply chain in Shenzhen and Dongguan, and chose CES 2026 in Las Vegas as its first public appearance.
Before mass production or a single crowdfunding campaign, the company closed two rounds totalling tens of millions of RMB—angel led by Linear Capital with Qingshuiwan Capital, then Japan's PKSHA Algorithm Fund—announced in April 2026. At CES the booth reportedly handed out about 2,000 business cards and drew approaches from Best Buy and Home Depot; Ludens AI planned Kickstarter and Makuake launches for the second half of 2026 with pricing expected around RMB 2,000–3,000.
What has to be true
- Xue Lijun's Tesla–DJI–FITURE path gave him both autonomy software and consumer-device experience, a rare combination for a companion-robot bet.
- By making robots speechless, Ludens AI avoids dialogue errors and bad translations—the failure mode of chatbot hardware—and skips most localization work.
- Warm 37–39°C shells, hums and memory are deliberate design: users project meaning onto ambiguous sounds, creating a bond they feel they discovered.
- Tokyo as HQ plus Shenzhen/Dongguan supply pairs Japan's mature companion-robot market with China's hardware cost structure from day one.
- Two rounds in half a year and retailer interest showed investors and channels would back the thesis before any revenue existed.
What can be applied
By subtracting speech and tasks, Ludens AI also subtracts localization, dialogue risk and feature bloat—an argument that when hardware sells emotion, the constraint itself is the product.
Aftermath
As of 2026-05-18, Ludens AI was still pre-launch: prototypes had appeared at CES 2026, funding of tens of millions of RMB was closed, and Kickstarter and Makuake campaigns were planned for the second half of 2026 with pricing expected around RMB 2,000–3,000. The company had no public revenue or user numbers yet; its open question was whether consumers would pay for a robot whose only job is to hum, warm up and stay present.
Sources
- Early-stage project: former DJI engineers start a companion robot business
- “大疆教父”连投三轮，这家由90后华南理工学霸创办的AI陪伴机器人什么来头？
- Ludens AI陪伴型机器人亮相CES 2026：恒温外壳告别冰冷触感
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