Chinese artificial intelligence start-up StepFun has appointed Yin Qi, the co-founder and former CEO of Megvii, as its chairman, as the company wraps up a 5 billion yuan (US$690 million) Series B+ funding round and sharpens its focus on so-called “physical AI” – artificial intelligence designed to power real-world machines such as cars and robots. Yin, a prominent figure from China’s first wave of computer-vision start-ups, is also chairman of Qianli Technology, a Geely-backed smart-driving...