Proception Inc

Proception Inc. is a developer of advanced humanoid robotics technology, focusing on creating dexterous robotic hands that merge artificial intelligence with human-inspired engineering. The company was founded in 2024 by Jay Li and Jianxiang Xu (also cited as Jack Xu) and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Both founders are former engineers from Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot program. Li, a Stanford graduate, previously worked at Apple, Aurora, and Aeva, and was the electronics lead for the Tesla Optimus project. Xu is an alumnus of the University of Waterloo and also worked at Trexo (YC W19) before his time at Tesla.

The company's core product is the ProHand, a robotic hand designed to replicate the dexterity and precision of human hands. It features over 20 degrees of freedom, integrated tactile sensors, and AI-powered control systems to enable precise manipulation, adaptive grip, and the handling of delicate objects. Proception's strategy includes a novel approach to data collection, gathering data from human interaction rather than traditional teleoperation to train its AI models more efficiently. The firm produced its first functional prototype within four months of its founding.

Proception's business model starts with providing its high-precision hands to research institutions to facilitate validation and feedback. The company's roadmap outlines a plan to scale manufacturing, launch a data collection platform by 2026, develop a full humanoid prototype by 2027, and begin commercial deployment in industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics by 2028. Proception is a participant in the Y Combinator Winter 2025 batch and secured $500K in a Seed funding round in March 2025. In June 2025, Tesla filed a lawsuit against Proception and Jay Li, alleging the theft of trade secrets related to its Optimus hand technology.

Keywords: humanoid robotics, dexterous robotic hands, artificial intelligence, robot manipulation, tactile sensors, AI control systems, human-robot interaction, robotic automation, ProHand, Jay Li, Jianxiang Xu, Tesla Optimus, Y Combinator, advanced robotics, dexterous manipulation, cobots, service robotics