Here is the man behind the AI Deepseek

The success of the Chinese “chatbot” DeepSeek has shaken the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.

Its previously discreet CEO, Liang Wenfeng, is now seated alongside China’s political elite.

The launch of DeepSeek took place on January 20, the same day as Donald Trump’s inauguration. Its immediate success caused a significant drop in the stock prices of several American AI giants, such as OpenAI, Nvidia, Meta, and SoftBank.

The free chatbot has since become the most downloaded app on the App Store.

Now considered a national hero, Liang Wenfeng was received by Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang last week. He is the only AI leader who participated in the meeting with the country’s top officials. After sharing his vision regarding his area of expertise, they stated that Beijing “will focus on advancements in key technologies and cutting-edge technologies.”

The head of DeepSeek, a 40-year-old man according to Chinese media, sought neither glory nor fortune, according to his colleagues, but he always hoped to make an impact on the technology world, dominated by the United States. With the ambition to create human-level AI, Mr. Wenfeng shared his plans with colleagues early in his career but faced their skepticism, particularly reported by the Daily Mail.

Mr. Wenfeng holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic information engineering and a master’s degree in information and communication engineering from the prestigious Zhejiang University. After graduating, the engineer ventured into finance.

In 2015, he founded High-Flyer, a company that uses AI and algorithms to identify patterns likely to influence stock prices. The company became one of China’s leading hedge funds, which would have allowed him to accumulate wealth.

He then gathered his best employees and hired many recent graduates from top Chinese universities to create DeepSeek in 2023.