By Kate Yuan

(JW Insights) Jun 30 -- Chinese food delivery giant Meituan has acquired China's leading AGI company Light Year (光年之外) from its co-founder Wang Huiwen for RMB2.065 billion ($284.6 million), the company announced on June 29.

The deal includes $234 million in cash and RMB367 million ($50.6 million) worth of liabilities. Due to health reasons, Wang Huiwen resigned on June 25 from his positions in Meituan, including non-executive director, and other key positions.

Beijing-based Light Year was founded by Meituan co-founder Wang Huiwen in February 2023, with an initial investment of $50 million and a valuation of $200 million, aiming to build China's OpenAI.

The company built its team within two months, attracting top AI experts and entrepreneurs in the field. Currently, the team has about 70 members.

Through the acquisition of Light Year and its talents, Meituan has the opportunity to strengthen its competitiveness in the fast-growing AI industry and better fulfill its mission of “we help people eat better, live better,” Meituan noted.

Meituan co-founder Wang Xing and Wang Huiwen were classmates at Tsinghua University. On March 8, 2023, Wang Xing said to join the A-round financing of Light Year and served as a director.