An AISpeech(思必驰) visit in Suzhou takes a delegation to the company that supplies the voice system in a Mercedes-Benz. AISpeech Technology was founded in Cambridge in 2007, moved to Suzhou Industrial Park in 2008, and by 2025 held 22 per cent of China's in-car voice installations by volume — second in the market, ahead of the incumbent Cerence.
The reason to go is a specific decision, not a general trend. Mercedes-Benz selected AISpeech as its voice supplier for the whole MB.OS platform, not for a single model. It is the first time the company has handed conversational technology to a Chinese supplier, and the delegation that visits can ask what changed to make that possible.
The second reason is the shape of the business. Revenue grew from about 539 million yuan in 2023 to about 688 million yuan in 2025 while main business gross margin rose from 53.69 per cent to 63.24 per cent, and the company has put more than 35 per cent of revenue into research in each of those years. That is what an on-device speech platform looks like while it is being built, and a visit is the cheapest way to hear how the company plans the next stage.
China Innovation Visits coordinates the Suzhou programme, including the company reception, scheduling, local transport and English interpretation.
Key takeaways
- Understand how a Chinese supplier took share from Cerence in three years, from 6.8 to 22 per cent.
- See the Mercedes decision: a platform-level award, not a single-model win.
- Test the cockpit systems directly — wake-up speed, emotion recognition, dialect handling.
- Discuss the AI chip business, which shipped more than 60 million units in three years.
- Ask the hard question: revenue is growing, gross margin is rising, and the company still loses money. Why?
- Compare with an iFLYTEK visit, the larger and profitable incumbent in Chinese speech.
Why visit AISpeech in Suzhou?
Voice is a good subject for a delegation because it is measurable and because the buying decision is unusually visible. Every car on the road has one voice system, and market share can be counted. AISpeech is interesting because it moved fast in a market that had looked settled.
The visit is also a lesson in how Chinese suppliers enter premium global supply chains. AISpeech did not win Mercedes on price. It won on a platform award, which is a different kind of sale, and the difference matters to any delegation selling into automotive.
Suzhou Industrial Park is the right setting. It is one of China's older and more deliberate industrial parks, and the company has been there since 2008 — long enough that it is not a recent relocation.
Company background
From Cambridge to Suzhou
AISpeech was founded in Cambridge, England in 2007 by researchers working on speech technology, and moved to Suzhou Industrial Park in 2008. It entered the automotive front-loading market in 2019, providing in-car dialogue systems to carmakers rather than aftermarket devices. It set up its chip subsidiary, Shencong Semiconductor, in 2018, and released DFM — described as Jiangsu province's first artificial intelligence language model — in 2023.
A credential worth raising at the briefing: AISpeech is the company designated to build the national-level open innovation platform for language computing under China's new-generation artificial intelligence programme — the signage at the exhibition hall entrance states it, and only a small group of Chinese AI companies hold designations of this kind. Its self-developed DUI (Dialog User Interface) platform, meanwhile, is the underlying engine on which many industry voice products are built, which is how the company converts speech research into revenue across sectors.
What it sells
The company describes itself as a conversational AI platform company focused on full-stack conversational AI and on-device intelligence. Its three business lines are smart mobility, smart office and smart IoT, and it sells both hardware and software: AI chips, AI hardware products, and AI software and technical services.
The Mercedes decision
What was awarded
Mercedes-Benz selected AISpeech as the voice supplier for its MB.OS platform as a whole. The new Maybach S-Class, which had its global premiere in Beijing in 2026, uses it, as do the CLA electric and other model lines. Reporting describes this as the first time Mercedes has given conversational technology to a Chinese supplier.
The distinction is the point. A single-model award can be a cost decision. A platform award means the supplier is inside the operating system, and it changes what the relationship is worth.
What the system does
The company's demonstrations cover wake-up in about 0.2 seconds, emotion recognition that adjusts the response tone, and support for regional Chinese varieties including Cantonese and Sichuan dialect. Delegations can test these directly in the cockpit area, which makes this one of the more practical parts of the visit.
The market share number
6.8 to 22 per cent
According to Gasgoo Research Institute data cited in the company's filings, AISpeech's share of in-car voice installations in China — measured by domestic vehicle retail sales — rose from 6.8 per cent in 2023 to 22 per cent in 2025, placing it second in the market and ahead of Cerence.
Read it carefully
Two qualifications matter. The first is the source: this is third-party research cited by the company, not a disclosed figure. The second is the base: share of domestic vehicle retail sales is a measure of the Chinese market, and it says nothing about AISpeech's position globally. Ask what share of the 22 per cent comes from joint-venture and international brands, because that is where the margin is.
Three businesses
Smart mobility
Smart mobility was the largest line in 2025 at about 276 million yuan, or 40.08 per cent of main business revenue, up from 30.04 per cent in 2023. The company reports working with more than 60 carmakers, close to 300 vehicle models, and more than 25 million vehicles cumulatively equipped. Named customers include BYD, SAIC, BAIC, Geely, Great Wall and Seres domestically, and Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche and Lotus internationally, plus two-wheeler maker Yadea. Delegations already visiting a BYD company visit will recognise several of these names from the other side of the relationship.
Smart office
Smart office contributed about 243 million yuan, or 35.40 per cent, in 2025. Its ceiling microphone has been deployed in more than 10,000 meeting rooms, with named customers including Huawei, Alibaba, Xiaomi, JD and Nongfu Spring, and universities including Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the National University of Singapore. Its AI office notebook, launched in mid-2024, was ranked first in China by single-product sales value for colour-screen office notebooks in 2025 by China Insights Consultancy.
Smart IoT
Smart IoT contributed about 169 million yuan, or 24.51 per cent. The company's voice modules appear in more than 50 terminal categories, with customers including Midea, Hisense, Haier, Changhong, Ecovacs, Dreame, Roborock, AgiBot, Galaxy General, Magic Atom, Lenovo, Transsion and OPPO. The robot vacuum makers on that list — see an Ecovacs visit — are the clearest example of how a speech module becomes a component sale.
The chips
Shencong Semiconductor
AISpeech founded Shencong Semiconductor in 2018 to build its own AI chips. Cumulative shipments over roughly three years exceeded 60 million units, used in smart home, in-car and wearable devices.
Why it matters
Owning the chip changes the economics. A supplier that sells only software competes on licence fees; one that sells silicon plus software can price the combination and hold the customer on the hardware side. Ask what proportion of IoT revenue is chip-driven and whether the chips are used outside AISpeech's own designs.
The 2025 numbers
Revenue and gross margin
Revenue was about 539 million yuan in 2023,601 million in 2024 and 688 million in 2025. Main business gross margin rose from 53.69 per cent in 2023 to 63.24 per cent in 2025.
The gap is closing
The company's net loss narrowed by 59.42 per cent year on year in 2025, and on an adjusted basis excluding share-based payments the improvement over three years is larger still. Revenue grew in each of those years and gross margin rose by nearly ten percentage points, so the movement is coming from both sides of the account.
Research intensity
R&D spending was about 226 million yuan in 2023,264 million in 2024 and 254 million in 2025 — more than 35 per cent of revenue in each year, and about 744 million yuan across the three years. By the end of 2025 the company held 717 granted invention patents, and R&D staff were 38.68 per cent of headcount.
How to read the model
Three things at once
Revenue grows, gross margin rises, and research spending stays above 35 per cent of revenue. Those three facts belong together: the company is choosing to fund the platform build ahead of the revenue it expects to follow. A delegation should ask what revenue level the company expects to reach, because the answer is the most concrete statement it can make about its own plan.
Where the money goes
Across 2023,2024 and 2025 the company spent about 744 million yuan on research and development, more than 35 per cent of revenue in each year, alongside continued investment in market expansion. By the end of 2025 it held 717 granted invention patents and R&D staff were 38.68 per cent of headcount. That is the reason the listing matters more here than at a business that has already scaled.
The STAR Market listing
The current application
The company's STAR Market application was accepted on 25 May 2026, with Soochow Securities as sponsor, seeking to raise about 1.555 billion yuan. A January 2026 equity transfer valued the company at about 6.444 billion yuan, and Alibaba-affiliated shareholders remain the largest single shareholder group. The application is proceeding rather than complete, so delegations should not assume a listed-company disclosure regime applies yet and should ask what stage the review has reached.
What it is not yet
At the time of writing the application has been accepted and is proceeding; it is not a completed listing. Delegations should not assume a listed-company disclosure regime applies yet. Ask what stage the review has reached.
What a visit covers
The standard programme
09:30–10:30 Visit to AISpeech's National-Level New Generation Artificial Intelligence Open Innovation Platform Exhibition Hall, to learn about the innovative applications of intelligent voice interaction systems in fields such as smart vehicles, smart home appliances, consumer electronics, and digital government and enterprise.
10:30–11:30 Thematic Exchange: How AISpeech Empowers Enterprise Digital Transformation Through AI Technology
The programme is adapted to what the delegation wants to understand, and the final scope is confirmed in writing during planning, before you commit.
Practical notes
- The visit is a business programme. Delegations are received as professional visitors and follow the host's rules.
- Booking requires approval in advance, and the company recommends about 30 days to arrange the route, participants and interpretation.
- Provide the participant list, nationalities, industry background and focus areas early; the technical depth of the briefing is adjusted to suit.
- Photography rules are confirmed in advance; tell us during planning if you need images for internal reporting.
- Smart casual is appropriate. The programme includes cockpit and product demonstration areas.
- English interpretation can be arranged for the exhibition hall, demonstrations, briefing and Q&A, with specialist preparation on AI terminology.
Questions before an AISpeech visit in Suzhou
Is the visit open to international business delegations? Yes, subject to advance arrangements and confirmation by the host. Host approval takes time, so we recommend planning at least 30 days ahead.
What is the group size? Visits are normally arranged for groups of 10 or more. We confirm the practical maximum with the host for your date.
How long does the visit take? The standard programme runs most of a working day, typically covering the exhibition hall, cockpit and product demonstration areas, a briefing with technical and management teams, and a discussion slot.
Where is the visit held? At the company's headquarters in Suzhou Industrial Park. We confirm the meeting point in writing after the host approves the booking.
Do participants need a technical background? No. The visit can be approached through automotive, procurement, product, investment or operations, and terminology is handled through interpretation.
Is English interpretation provided? Yes, including preparation on AI and speech terminology, and bilingual materials can be arranged.
How large is the business? Revenue was about 688 million yuan in 2025, up from about 539 million yuan in 2023, with main business gross margin above 63 per cent and 717 granted invention patents at the end of the year.
What is the STAR Market application for? The application was accepted on 25 May 2026 with Soochow Securities as sponsor, seeking to raise about 1.555 billion yuan. It is proceeding rather than complete, so ask what stage the review has reached.
Does the company make its own chips? Yes. Its subsidiary Shencong Semiconductor, founded in 2018, has shipped more than 60 million self-developed AI chips over roughly three years, into smart home, in-car and wearable devices.
How large is the company really? Revenue was about 688 million yuan in 2025. iFLYTEK, the market leader in Chinese speech, is materially larger by revenue; AISpeech is a second-tier player with a strong position in one specific segment, not a scale leader.
Does the programme always run as described? It is built around the elements above. Facilities and areas opened on the day are subject to what the site opens, and we confirm the final scope in writing during planning, before you commit.
Arrange your AISpeech visit
Tell us your dates, group size and what your team wants to understand: winning a platform award from a global carmaker, the economics of on-device speech, the chip-plus-software model, or how a research-intensive speech AI company plans its next stage. China Innovation Visits will coordinate the company reception, discussion priorities, transport and English interpretation.
Contact China Innovation Visits to arrange your AISpeech visit in Suzhou.