PolyU and Simple AI Launch Strategic Collaboration

January 20, 2026

HONG KONG, China – January 19, 2026 – The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Beijing Simple AI Technology Co., Ltd. (Simple AI) officially launched their strategic partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony. Held at PolyU’s Chiang Chen Studio Theatre (AG204), the event brought together key representatives from both institutions to exchange the agreement and discuss future collaborations in embodied intelligent robotics. This partnership underscores PolyU’s commitment to advancing industry-academia synergies and driving innovation in AI-driven technologies for real-world applications.

The ceremony was hosted by Prof. Weisong WEN from TAS Lab. Attendees from PolyU included Ir Prof. H.C. Man, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Crystal Shi from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, and Dr. Runqiu Yang from TAS Lab. Representing Simple AI were Founder and CEO Dr. Xiaofei Li, Vice President Yutang Tang, and Marketing Director Hui Wang.

The MOU outlines a framework for joint efforts in several key areas of embodied intelligent robotics:

Joint Research and Development: Focusing on the design and optimization of robot “brains” using AI-driven control systems, including End-to-End Learning, Vision-Language-Navigation (VLN), and Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models for robust perception, real-time reasoning, and precise execution in dynamic environments.
Closed-Loop Systems Development: Building systems that integrate behavioral AI models with real-world data from simulated and actual scenarios, addressing challenges like data scarcity in unstructured settings such as hotels, nursing homes, and homes.
Integration of TAS Lab Expertise： Leveraging PolyU’s Trustworthy AI and Autonomous Systems Laboratory (TAS Lab) for high-precision positioning algorithms and multi-sensor fusion to ensure safety in autonomous operations, providing fail-safe checks against AI-driven perception in complex indoor environments.
Phased Proof-of-Concept Pilots and Industrialization: Executing pilots in sectors like hotel services (utilizing Simple AI’s partnerships with major hotel groups and PolyU’s leadership in Hospitality & Tourism Management), elderly care, and family environments, enhancing robots’ generalization, long-horizon task planning, emotional intelligence, adaptive learning, and self-evolutionary capabilities.

These initiatives aim to propel advancements in assistive robotics, fostering solutions for societal needs in hospitality, elderly care, and beyond.