{"id":"3534d541-556b-4453-bbb6-a91da3819581","name":"Yitu","slug":"yitu","description":"Shanghai-based AI company founded in 2012 by Leo Zhu and Lin Chenxi, specializing in facial recognition systems and computer vision. Its flagship Dragonfly Eye platform is deployed by public security bureaus across China to identify individuals and vehicles. One of China's 'Four AI Dragons', backed by Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Capital, and ICBC. Added to the U.S. Entity List (Oct 2019) and CMIC blacklist (Dec 2021) over alleged Xinjiang surveillance involvement; named on the Pentagon's Chinese Military Companies list (Jan 2024).","status":"active","founded":2012,"hq":"Shanghai, China","hqLat":31.2312707,"hqLng":121.4700152,"hqGeocodedAt":"2026-08-05T14:55:59.733Z","hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":"yitutech.com","fundingTotal":null,"type":"brain","roles":[],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","heatIndex":54,"lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megvii","title":"Four AI Dragons / Entity List","sourceName":"Wikipedia"},{"url":"https://www.biometricupdate.com/202402/megvii-yitu-among-companies-slapped-with-fresh-u-s-sanctions","title":"Yitu sanctions 2024","sourceName":"Biometric Update"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Focus","value":"AI and computer vision, specifically facial recognition and medical imaging"},{"label":"Scale","value":"One of China's 'Four AI Dragons'"},{"label":"Sanctions","value":"Added to the U.S. BIS Entity List in Oct 2019 over alleged Xinjiang surveillance involvement"},{"label":"Sanctions","value":"Received further U.S. sanctions in 2024"},{"label":"CEO","value":"Leo Zhu (PhD Statistics, UCLA; postdoc MIT CSAIL)"},{"label":"Co-founder","value":"Lin Chenxi (former senior expert at Alibaba Cloud)"},{"label":"COO","value":"Zhang Xiaoping (also CIO of G42)"},{"label":"Product","value":"Dragonfly Eye facial recognition system"},{"label":"Valuation","value":"$2 billion (as of May 2019, company-reported)"},{"label":"Funding total","value":">$400 million raised (as of May 2019)"},{"label":"Investors","value":"Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Capital, ICBC International, China Industrial Asset Management"},{"label":"US sanctions","value":"Entity List (Oct 2019), CMIC blacklist (Dec 2021), Pentagon Chinese Military Companies list (Jan 2024)"},{"label":"Deployment scale","value":"20+ provincial public security bureaus, 300+ cities in China"},{"label":"IPO status","value":"Withdrew STAR Market IPO (2021), planned HKEX listing"}],"aliases":["Yitu Technology","Shanghai Yitu","依图科技"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":null,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-25T18:39:57.902Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-02T09:09:12.473Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/yitu","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/yitu","name":"Yitu","alternateName":["Yitu Technology","Shanghai Yitu","依图科技"],"description":"Shanghai-based AI company founded in 2012 by Leo Zhu and Lin Chenxi, specializing in facial recognition systems and computer vision. Its flagship Dragonfly Eye platform is deployed by public security bureaus across China to identify individuals and vehicles. One of China's 'Four AI Dragons', backed by Sequoia Capital, Hillhouse Capital, and ICBC. Added to the U.S. Entity List (Oct 2019) and CMIC blacklist (Dec 2021) over alleged Xinjiang surveillance involvement; named on the Pentagon's Chinese Military Companies list (Jan 2024).","identifier":"3534d541-556b-4453-bbb6-a91da3819581","foundingDate":"2012","address":"Shanghai, China","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"verified","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":2,"primary_source_types":["knowledge-base"]}}}