Li Auto's chip unit MHX Technology signs $243M first round with outside investors

Shanghai Mahe Xin Technology, known as MHX Technology, signed subscription agreements totaling RMB 1.625 billion, roughly $243M. Li Auto's wholly owned subsidiary supplies RMB 1.0 billion, and outside investors Hangzhou Jingtao, BlueRun Ventures, Huaye Tiancheng and MiraclePlus supply RMB 625 million. Hangzhou Jingtao also holds a one-off right, exercisable by December 31, 2026, to add up to RMB 500 million at the same price. If used, post-money reaches RMB 17.1 billion, per 36Kr. Closing is subject to customary conditions, and Li Auto stays the controlling shareholder. The unit houses Li Auto's chip and domain controller business, including the Mach M100, a 5 nanometer automotive AI processor that Li Auto says is already in production vehicles. The company says the structure lets it pursue non-automotive customers. No revenue figure was disclosed. For AI builders, this shows industrial parents spinning in-house accelerator teams into independent businesses with outside capital. Edge inference silicon for vehicles and robots is becoming a funded category separate from data center GPUs, which matters for anyone choosing deployment hardware or hiring chip engineers in China.