By Eduardo Baptista
BEIJING (Reuters) – Liang Wenfeng, the 39-year-old founding father of Chinese language AI startup DeepSeek, has within the matter of weeks change into the face of China’s tech trade and its hope of overcoming an ever-tightening noose of export controls imposed by the USA.
Liang had stored a particularly low profile till Jan. 20, when he was one among 9 people requested to present a speech at a closed-door symposium hosted by China’s Premier Li Qiang.
He gave two uncommon media interviews to Chinese language media outlet Waves final yr and in 2023, however aside from that has stayed principally out of the general public eye. DeepSeek didn’t reply to a request for an interview.
On the symposium, the millennial’s youthful look contrasted with the grey-haired lecturers, officers and state-owned conglomerate heads sat round him, footage and video revealed by Chinese language broadcaster CCTV confirmed.
However the reality Liang was invited to share his opinions on Chinese language authorities coverage highlights Beijing’s recognition of DeepSeek’s position in probably upending the worldwide AI order, in China’s favour.
DeepSeek launched a free AI assistant final week that the agency says makes use of much less knowledge at a fraction of the price of present companies, triggering a worldwide selloff in tech shares.
Final yr, Baidu CEO Robin Li spoke at an identical symposium chaired by the Chinese language premier. Li, who introduced China’s first ChatGPT rival in March 2023, mentioned in an interview that very same yr China would by no means recreate Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s success and that Chinese language corporations ought to give attention to making use of present AI fashions for business functions.
Underneath Liang’s management, DeepSeek intentionally averted app-building. As a substitute, it concentrated analysis expertise and assets on making a mannequin that would match, or higher OpenAI, and it hopes sooner or later to proceed specializing in cutting-edge fashions that will probably be utilized by different corporations to construct shopper and enterprise-facing AI merchandise.
Liang’s strategy stood out in a Chinese language tech trade that was used to taking improvements from overseas, from smartphone apps to electrical automobiles, and rapidly scaling them up, usually a lot quicker than the international locations the place the innovations had been first made.
“China’s AI cannot be within the place of following endlessly. We frequently say that there’s a hole of 1 or two years between China’s AI and the USA, however the actual hole is the distinction between originality and imitation,” Liang mentioned in an interview with Waves in July final yr.
Liang’s interviews reveal a perception that China’s tech trade had reached a crossroads the place it lacked the boldness however not the capital wanted to have interaction in basic R&D breakthroughs.
Source link