Who is Xu Rui, the ex-ByteDance executive tapped by Meta to lead AI hardware?

Facebook owner Meta Platforms has recruited a Chinese industry veteran with experience across artificial intelligence, humanoid robots and extended reality to lead a new hardware team in its superintelligence unit.

Xu Rui, a former product manager at Tencent Holdings and TikTok owner ByteDance, would lead a team developing AI devices separately from Meta’s Reality Labs division, which was responsible for the company’s popular smart glasses and virtual reality headsets, US outlet Business Insider reported on Saturday.

The South China Morning Post takes a look at Rui’s background and his views on the future of the AI industry.

Who is Xu Rui?

Xu, a graduate of Harbin Institute of Technology and Seoul National University, has had a storied career that includes stints on the frontlines of several Chinese big tech giants’ efforts to develop the next big consumer tech product.

His first major role at a Chinese tech company was as director of global expansion at consumer electronics giant Xiaomi from 2015 to 2017. During his time there, Xiaomi invested heavily in its smart TV offerings overseas, ultimately landing a landmark deal with Google to release its first Android device in the US market.

Xu’s next major role was as general manager from 2020 to 2022 at ByteDance’s New Stone Lab hardware unit, which released several popular consumer products during his stint, including the Dali smart lamp that enabled parents to monitor their children while they did their homework.

Following a stint at Tencent’s extended reality device team from 2022 to 2024, Xu joined Palo Alto-based humanoid robotics start-up K-Scale Labs in 2024, which declared bankruptcy in November. He then joined Dreamer, an AI agent builder start-up, which was acquired by Meta in March.