Zhifei Li

Cofounder, Mobvoi

Search every verified Zhifei Li interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Zhifei Li, founder and CEO of the Chinese artificial intelligence company Mobvoi, discussed the company's evolution and strategy in interviews in 2017 and 2018. Li said that Mobvoi initially developed voice interaction technology for mobile apps, but concluded that the user experience on mature touch-based platforms did not provide enough benefit for voice to gain daily active users. He stated that the company shifted in 2014 to building its own hardware, beginning with a smartwatch, to create a platform where voice interaction would be more useful, and later expanded into smart speakers and a smart rearview mirror for cars. Li said the company plans to enter the smart earphone sector and aims to build a personal system connecting devices across different scenarios. Li also shared his views on the broader AI industry, saying that many anticipated advances, such as natural language understanding and dialogue, may not be solved in the next 10 to 20 years. He noted that user demand for AI technology is not yet clear and that the business model for AI still needs to be figured out. Regarding competition in the smart home market, Li said that while Xiaomi has a strong ecosystem in China, over 80% of the market share is held by other manufacturers, and he argued that Mobvoi's competitive advantage lies in its combined software, hardware, and algorithm capabilities.