Luo Yonghao's final stand.

After a prolonged period of low-key activity, Luo Yonghao has recently embarked on numerous 'new ventures'.

On March 4, it was reported that to realize his entrepreneurial vision for the AIOS system, Luo Yonghao recruited Wang Wenjun, a former top-50 Xiaomi employee and seasoned operating system expert. Subsequently, on March 10, Luo Yonghao posted a job recruitment announcement on his personal Weibo account. His AR startup, Thin Red Line Tech (Thin Red Line), launched its 2025 spring recruitment drive. The open full-time positions in the software product department are exclusively for product managers, with work locations in Shanghai and Beijing.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

As another technological venture following Smartisan Technology, Thin Red Line Tech embodies Luo Yonghao's ambition to make another significant impact in the tech sphere. Unlike Smartisan Technology, which focused on the smartphone market, Thin Red Line Tech concentrates on the future interaction mode combining AI and AR, aiming to create the next-generation personal computing device platforms post-smartphones.

Although the company has been established for some time (founded in June 2022), it has maintained a relatively low profile and has not disclosed many product details to the public. With the addition of Wang Wenjun and the announcement of spring recruitment, it signals that Thin Red Line Tech's products may have entered a new phase of development.

Nonetheless, Luo Yonghao's entrepreneurial endeavors never lack highlights. However, there's an industry joke about him being a 'curse on the industry.' From smartphones to social software, from e-cigarettes to live streaming e-commerce, Luo Yonghao has often stepped into 'trends,' only to witness his ventures fail or the industry enter a downturn.

Currently, both AI and AR are at the forefront of trends, with global tech giants increasing their investments. Hopefully, this time, Luo Yonghao can break the curse and make Thin Red Line Tech a 'beacon' in the AI era.

01. Shifting from AR to AI

'This should be my last entrepreneurial venture. I will pour everything I have into it.' When Luo Yonghao became the 'top livestream seller on Douyin' in 2022, no one anticipated his return to entrepreneurship.

At that time, Luo Yonghao abruptly announced the suspension of his Douyin live streams and posted on Weibo that he was officially withdrawing from all social platforms to devote himself once again to entrepreneurship. He also introduced his AR startup, 'Thin Red Line Tech,' claiming to create products on par with Apple.

Afterward, Luo Yonghao began fundraising and expanding operations everywhere. According to 'Tianyancha,' in November 2022, Thin Red Line Tech announced the completion of an angel round of financing of approximately $50 million, with a post-investment valuation of $200 million. This round was led by Meituan Dragon Ball, with follow-on investments from renowned institutions such as BlueRun Ventures, Legend Capital, Matrix Partners China, and DJI Innovation, as well as tech figures like Li Wanqiang and Wu Yongming.

Image source: Tianyancha screenshot

Simultaneously, Thin Red Line Tech implemented a large-scale recruitment plan in the second half of 2022, offering high salaries. According to 'Qujiexieshangye,' the team size once exceeded 150 people, while Luo Yonghao envisioned a team of up to a thousand.

However, by 2023, media reports exposed that the first prototype of Thin Red Line's AR glasses was too heavy for mass production, plagued by software issues and numerous bugs, and its AR system was incomplete, causing the research and development process to nearly stall.

In response, Luo Yonghao remained undeterred. With the rise of large language models, particularly the launch of ChatGPT, he saw new hope. According to a previous report by 'New Vision,' insiders at Thin Red Line revealed that 'at that time, the software team suddenly paused ongoing work. Luo Yonghao reacted extremely quickly, immediately instructing the team to shift to developing an AI application demo.' Consequently, Thin Red Line Tech's development focus shifted from AR to AI.

In the first quarter of 2024, Thin Red Line Tech set the software development direction as AI Agent and subsequently recruited large model algorithm engineers, AI product managers, and other AI-related positions. In August of the same year, during the 'Make Friends' fourth-anniversary livestream, Luo Yonghao officially announced the launch of a new product in September, emphasizing it as a 'disruptive and destructive innovation.' However, after much anticipation, the new product mentioned by Luo Yonghao was not unveiled as scheduled.

Image source: Boss Zhipin screenshot

Thin Red Line Tech's transition from the AR field to the AI field has not been without challenges. According to 'Qujiexieshangye,' Thin Red Line Tech is still vigorously recruiting AI search engineers, AI engineering R&D engineers, and other talents. Their primary tasks are to build a new generation of AI search engines and participate in the design and implementation of AI product infrastructure.

02. Is this Luo's 'small trial'?

On January 5, 2025, Luo Yonghao's AI project finally arrived with the launch of a new software product, the 'J1 Assistant' AI assistant, overseas. If all goes well, this is the first AI smart product nurtured by Thin Red Line Tech.

The most distinctive feature of J1 Assistant is its voice interaction-driven capabilities, supporting multiple functions such as Chatbot, notes, Todo (to-do items), and AI search simultaneously. Its ingenuity lies in integrating voice input, automatic recognition, and multi-scenario operation logic, enabling users to invoke AI in the most natural way.

This novel AI product has attracted many 'Smartisan fans' to try it out. However, it's a pity that this product is currently available only in a beta version overseas, inaccessible to domestic networks, and supports downloads only on select Samsung Galaxy S series and Google Pixel series models.

Image source: J1 Assistant screenshot

Under such limited conditions, J1 Assistant has not garnered significant attention, and some users who tried it felt a strong 'Smartisan flavor.' From interface design to interaction methods, it inherits the classic 'skeuomorphic' style of old Smartisan phones.

In terms of product capability, J1 Assistant still has its flaws. Regardless of context or language, J1 Assistant lacks context memory ability, making it difficult for users to clearly instruct it using natural language, and the response speed is indeed a bit slow.

Image source: Weibo

However, J1 Assistant may just be Luo Yonghao's small trial. According to plans, an AI hardware product named JARVIS ONE may also be in the works. And Luo Yonghao's real goal remains creating a genuine AI hardware product through the AIOS system.

Previously, a Smartisan phone fan expressed that they had successively used multiple phones such as the Smartisan T1, Nut R1, and Nut R2 but were currently facing difficulties in choosing a new phone because Smartisan Technology had not launched a new phone for a long time, and they were considering switching to Xiaomi. Surprisingly, this message received a personal response from Luo Yonghao himself.

When forwarding the fan's message, Luo Yonghao commented: 'It is meaningless to simply make phones again, but for AIOS... those who truly care about software often choose to make their own hardware.' This remark immediately sparked speculation and discussion among many netizens. Some excitedly said, 'Really? I want a beautiful phone!' Luo Yonghao replied affirmatively, 'Well, being beautiful is just the basics.'

Image source: Weibo screenshot

From Luo Yonghao's statement, it's evident that he is still fully committed to his AI entrepreneurial dream. From recruiting operating system veteran Wang Wenjun to investing heavily in AI talent and launching J1 Assistant, all indicate his unwavering dedication to this goal.

But the real challenge lies ahead. Can Luo Yonghao's bet on the AIOS system achieve the so-called 'disruptive and destructive innovation' breakthrough? Before that, can Thin Red Line Tech, which has shifted to the AI field, survive this 'AI elimination round'?

For Luo Yonghao, this may indeed be his 'last entrepreneurial venture,' as the difficulty level may surpass even his previous endeavors with Smartisan phones. And this time, can he still deliver surprises like he did back then?