Chinese autonomous driving startup QCraft said on Monday it has raised $100 million in a new round of Series D financing, as it pivots toward higher-level autonomy and physical AI technologies.

The latest funding was backed by a group of strategic and financial investors, including a major domestic automaker, industry funds and automotive supply-chain companies, the company said in a statement.

It said the proceeds will be used to step up research into frontier technologies such as world models and reinforcement learning, as well as expand hiring.

Chief Executive Yu Qian said the company would shift its strategic focus in 2026 toward Level 4 autonomous driving and broader applications of physical AI, while accelerating overseas expansion.

"Autonomous driving is the most viable entry point into physical AI," Yu said, adding that advances in artificial intelligence are approaching a turning point, with opportunities increasingly tied to real-world deployment rather than purely digital systems.

The move comes as Chinese self-driving firms seek to balance near-term commercialization with longer-term bets on full autonomy.

QCraft said its L2++ assisted driving system has surpassed 1 million units in mass production vehicles, working with nearly 10 automakers across about 30 models.

Its upgraded system, which the company said can deliver advanced urban navigation-on-autopilot functions with computing power of just 128 TOPS, has gained traction among carmakers looking to control hardware costs.

QCraft plans to expand its partner model lineup to more than 50 in 2026, most equipped with urban NOA capabilities, as competition intensifies in China's crowded assisted-driving market.

Beyond passenger vehicles, the company has entered the autonomous logistics segment, deploying driverless delivery vehicles in several Chinese cities under what it described as a "mass production equals operation" model.

It also plans to begin small-scale robotaxi trials in 2026, with broader rollout targeted for 2027.