Hesai Group (NASDAQ: HSAI) announced on April 14 2026 that it will supply its high‑performance JT128 3‑D LiDAR to Pittsburgh‑based robotics software company Thoro.ai for use in the company’s first safety‑certified AI autonomy platform for industrial and commercial robots.
The JT128 delivers a 360° × 187° ultra‑hemispherical field of view and a slim 30 mm window height, making it 70 % smaller in volume than comparable products. Its compact form factor and wide vertical coverage enable true autonomous pallet handling and other warehouse tasks while meeting strict safety standards, positioning the sensor as a key enabler for the four new autonomous mobile robots slated for release next year.
Thoro.ai, founded in 2019 (or 2021) as a spin‑out of Carnegie Robotics, has built its CoreFlex platform as a modular, safety‑certified autonomy architecture that can scale across many machine types. CEO Patrick Mondi said, “At Thoro.ai, we think about each of these OEM partnerships not just as standalone projects, but as part of our CoreFlex autonomy architecture: a modular, safety‑certified platform designed to scale across many machine types. The JT series plays a key role in making that possible by giving us reliable, high‑fidelity perception that works consistently across very different form factors. This simplifies the integration process for our partners, lowers their development costs, and gets their autonomous solutions to market faster. Hesai’s responsiveness, bug testing, and rapid iteration cycles also align directly with our mission to deliver safe, reliable autonomy at scale.”
Hesai’s recent financial results provide context for the partnership. In Q4 2025 the company reported earnings of $0.13 per share versus analyst expectations of $0.22, and revenue of $143 million versus a consensus of $155.57 million. Management guided for Q1 2026 revenue of RMB 650 million to RMB 700 million and projected full‑year 2026 shipments of 3 million to 3.5 million units. The partnership is part of Hesai’s strategy to double robotics LiDAR shipments in 2026 and to diversify beyond its dominant automotive market, where it holds a 40 % share of long‑range LiDAR sales.
The collaboration signals a strategic shift for both companies. For Hesai, integrating its JT128 into a safety‑certified autonomy platform opens a new revenue stream in the growing smart‑logistics and industrial robotics sector. For Thoro.ai, the high‑performance sensor enhances the reliability and scalability of its CoreFlex platform, accelerating time‑to‑market for OEMs and reducing development costs. Together, the partnership positions both firms to capture a larger share of the expanding autonomous warehouse and industrial robot market, where safety certification and sensor performance are critical differentiators.
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