Who is the founder of DeepSeek? Liang Wenfeng: The entrepreneur investing 'into the unknown'

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Liang Wenfeng was largely unknown to the press until January 20. However, when he was invited to speak at a symposium hosted by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Wenfeng's identity sparked curiosity. The founder of DeepSeek has given only two interviews to the press so far.

Wenfeng, who gave two interviews to the Chinese media outlet Waves in 2023 and 2024, has made no other public statements.

In photos and videos released by the Chinese broadcaster CCTV from Qiang's symposium, Wenfeng was seen to have a 'quite different' profile from other participants due to his youthful appearance and relaxed demeanor.

Wenfeng's invitation to share his views on Chinese government policies came just before DeepSeek became a major topic in the global artificial intelligence industry. This led to comments that the Beijing government was 'impressed' by DeepSeek.

DeepSeek released V3, a free AI assistant, on January 10, and R1, a competitor to ChatGPT, on January 20. The company's breakthroughs triggered a global sell-off in tech stocks.

Last year, Baidu CEO Robin Li spoke at a similar symposium chaired by the Chinese Premier. Li, who announced in March 2023 that they had developed China's first AI model to compete with ChatGPT, had stated in an interview that same year that China would never be able to replicate the success of Microsoft-backed OpenAI.

In contrast, Wenfeng's approach was to focus on developing new engineering methods rather than importing technology to build a model capable of competing with OpenAI. This approach by the young CEO allowed DeepSeek to differentiate itself from other Chinese companies trying to develop AI models with limited resources.

In an interview with Waves last July, Wenfeng stated:

''China's AI cannot remain in a position of forever following behind (the US's AI technology). In China, we say there is usually a one or two-year gap between our AI research and the US, but the real gap is the difference between originality and imitation.''

AIMING FOR AGI

Unlike its US rival OpenAI, DeepSeek decided to make all its models open source. In his interviews, Wenfeng emphasized that their main goal was not 'exaggerated profits' but to build AGI.

Wenfeng shared his views on this situation:

'Over the past thirty years, (China's tech industry) has only aimed to make money and ignored innovation. Innovation is not only driven by (profit-oriented) businesses, but also requires curiosity and the desire to create.'

Wenfeng's interviews reveal that he has embraced the 'open source culture,' which US tech experts claim is one of the reasons why Silicon Valley is superior to its Chinese counterparts.

The young entrepreneur's views on open source policy are as follows:

'Even if OpenAI is closed-source, it cannot stop others from catching up with it... Open source is a cultural practice rather than a commercial application... A company that does this will possess soft power.'

DeepSeek's slogan: 'Into the unknown'

WENFENG'S BACKGROUND

Wenfeng grew up in Guangdong, a southern province that led the country's adoption of market capitalism in the eighties and nineties. In an interview, the DeepSeek founder mentioned that he was surrounded by people who 'cared more about starting businesses than studying' at the time, but that he was more academically inclined.

Enrolling at Zhejiang University, one of China's most prestigious schools, at the age of 17, Wenfeng graduated from the Department of Electronic and Communication Engineering. The young entrepreneur earned a master's degree in Information and Communication Engineering in 2010.

In 2015, Wenfeng co-founded a hedge fund that used complex mathematical algorithms to make decisions on stock market trades. The fund's portfolio exceeded 100 billion yuan ($13.79 billion) by the end of 2021.

However, in April 2023, Wenfeng made an announcement on his WeChat account, stating that he would expand his interests beyond the investment sector and focus his resources on 'exploring the essence of AGI.' DeepSeek was founded a month after this statement by Wenfeng.

OpenAI defines AGI as 'autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.'

The vast majority of DeepSeek's employees consist of young people and PhD students who graduated from China's top universities. Wenfeng believes the reason these individuals choose to work at DeepSeek is that the company 'tackles the biggest challenges in the field of artificial intelligence.'

In a statement he made in July, Wenfeng said, 'What attracts the best talent is solving the world's hardest problems.'

News Source: 12punto