Two paths for China’s AI entrepreneurs are converging:
Yang Zhilin (Kimi / Moonshot Meituan):
- Tsinghua undergraduate + CMU PhD; first author of XLNet (cited over 10,000 times)
- Starting from product commercialization, now returning to technology, open source, and his own pace
- Still a rock music fan; founded the band Splay at Tsinghua
Liang Wenfeng (DeepSeek / Deep Exploration):
- Quant trading supports AI research; stays hidden behind the scenes long-term
- Described as having an “ACM team déjà vu” — geek culture, engineering efficiency first
- Now he has no choice but to face real-world issues like fundraising, retaining talent, and organizational management
One goes deeper into technology, the other toward real-world management. They haven’t copied Silicon Valley or copied each other, but they’re both redefining how Chinese AI companies grow.
After the release of Kimi K3, the most discussed question in the US tech world was: Why didn’t Yang Zhilin stay in the US back then?
The answer may be: China’s soil gave him different possibilities.
#Kimi #DeepSeek #中国AI #杨植麟 #Liang Wenfeng