StepFun

StepFun is the foundation-model company discussed in 131. 印奇出任阶跃星辰董事长的访谈：聪明人的诱惑、取舍、超长链路残酷淘汰赛、阶跃函数和超多元方程. Yin Qi says he participated from the company’s early planning phase, that it was founded in April 2023, and that he became its chair while also chairing Qianli Technology.

Source Position

• StepFun is positioned as a company trying to become one of China’s strongest foundation-model companies while also becoming commercially closed-loop.
• The name is tied to the mathematical step function, representing non-linear change from quantity to quality.
• Yin says StepFun should continue foundation-model R&D and try to remain in the world-class group over the next three years.
• Its model directions are described as base models, all-modal models, and Vision Language Action Models.
• Its commercial pull is AI Plus Terminals, especially the first vehicle scenario shared with Qianli Technology.
• The company is presented as needing AI Organization Design: high talent density, strong coordination, mission, and ego control.

Connections

• Yin Qi — chair and central source speaker.
• Qianli Technology — first terminal partner/context through cars, cabins, intelligent driving, and Robotaxi.
• AI Plus Terminals — commercialization thesis attached to StepFun.
• AI Commercialization Pressure and Long-Chain AI Competition — business and competitive constraints shaping the company.
• Frontier Model Scaling, World Models, and Embodied AI — technical context for foundation-model progress.