Horizon Robotics founder says cutting edge products will help fill vast future demand

Right before Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc started a road test of its self-driving car last year, Yu Kai, who was in charge of Baidu's autonomous driving business, decided to leave and established his own company, Horizon Robotics Inc.

The goal was ambitious: to develop tailor-made chips and operating systems for artificial intelligence. The plan was formulated well before Google Inc's AI-powered AlphaGo defeated a world champion player of the ancient strategy game Go in March 2015.