China AI startup funding triples to $16B in Q1 on LLMs and robotics

Chinese AI startups raised $16.2B in Q1 2026, up 185% YoY, anchored by DeepSeek's $7B round targeting LLMs and humanoid robotics with heavy state-linked fund participation. This concentration of capital in frontier labs and embodied AI signals intensifying US-China competition at the infrastructure and model layer.