Zhongjie 'Jay' Li is Co-Founder and CEO of Proception, a Y Combinator-backed humanoid robotics startup developing the world's most advanced dexterous robotic hands for human-robot interaction.

Jay is a Stanford graduate who built deep expertise across Apple, Aurora, and Aeva before joining Tesla as Electronics Lead on the Optimus humanoid robot program from 2022 to 2024.

Jay blends hardware engineering with AI to push the boundaries of robotic dexterity, and has been recognized as a key talent in the scarce cross-disciplinary field of humanoid robotics.

At Tesla's Optimus program, Jay was entrusted with some of the most sensitive technical data in the project, giving him unparalleled insight into advanced robotic hand sensors and actuator systems.

Proception raised an $11M seed round led by First Round Capital, settled its high-profile IP dispute with Tesla, and is now shipping its flagship ProHand to research clients, positioning itself as the default hand supplier in the fast-growing humanoid robotics market.