Hal Li is a Co-Founder at Sonilo, a San Francisco-based AI startup building the Sound World Model, a multimodal platform that generates original music and sound effects synchronized to video.

With over 10 years of experience across global technology companies, Hal honed his product and partnership expertise at TikTok (ByteDance), where he served as both an Interactive Engineer and Senior Product Manager, and later studied at the Academy of Art University.

Hal brings a rare blend of technical product management and strategic business development to the generative AI space, having also founded ventures including PIPABOY and Abstracoto across marketing, BD, and game design.

At Sonilo, Hal contributed to operations and marketing as the company secured a landmark licensing partnership with Shutterstock and expanded its API globally through integrations with fal, TapNow, and ComfyUI.

Sonilo raised $11 million in a B Capital-led round with participation from Redpoint, and made its professional filmmaking debut at the 2026 Venice International Film Festival, signaling its ambition to reshape audio production at scale.