The tech world loves a good underdog story, and Liang Wenfeng, the founder of DeepSeek, is writing one of the most compelling chapters in recent memory. His company, a Chinese AI lab, has Silicon Valley scrambling with its R1 reasoning model—a system that claims to outperform American AI giants while using significantly less computing power. Oh, and it’s open source. This week, DeepSeek’s app soared to the top of the App Store, dethroning ChatGPT and sending shockwaves through the AI industry. But who is Liang Wenfeng, the man behind this disruption? And how did he go from a math-obsessed kid in southern China to the leader of a company that’s rattling Nvidia’s stock price?
Liang’s journey is a blend of mathematical genius, entrepreneurial hustle, and a relentless drive to challenge the status quo. Born in 1985 in Zhanjiang, a port city in southern China, Liang was a straight-A student who taught himself calculus in junior high. He later attended Zhejiang University, one of China’s most prestigious institutions, where he began writing AI algorithms to pick stocks. By 2013, just a few years after graduating, he founded Jacobi, an investment firm named after the German mathematician Carl Jacobi. Two years later, he co-founded High-Flyer, a quantitative hedge fund that now manages $8 billion and serves as the financial backbone for DeepSeek.
What sets Liang apart from other AI founders is his unorthodox approach. While most tech leaders chase venture capital and proprietary models, Liang has made DeepSeek’s technology open source. This decision isn’t just about altruism; it’s a calculated move to break the monopoly of big tech companies. “For technologists, having others follow your work gives a great sense of accomplishment,” Liang told Chinese tech publication 36Kr. “Open source is more of a culture rather than a commercial behavior, and contributing to it earns us respect.”
Liang’s strategy is paying off. DeepSeek’s models have surged in popularity, cracking the global top 10 in both performance and adoption. The company has achieved this despite using less advanced chips than its U.S. counterparts, a feat that has left Silicon Valley executives and Washington policymakers alike scratching their heads. Richard Dewey, a former hedge fund manager, likens DeepSeek’s approach to quantitative trading: “They seem to have focused on wringing a lot of signal out of a relatively small amount of data, which is similar in spirit to what’s required in quantitative trading.”
But Liang’s path hasn’t been without challenges. In 2021, High-Flyer apologized to investors for poor performance, citing misjudgments in market sectors. Last year, China’s financial regulator cracked down on quant funds, accusing them of exacerbating market volatility. Yet, Liang has remained steadfast, refining algorithms and pushing the boundaries of AI. His team’s work with Nvidia GPUs, which began in 2019, positioned High-Flyer as one of the few Chinese firms with over 10,000 high-end chips by late 2022—a critical advantage when OpenAI’s ChatGPT debuted.
Liang’s decision to open-source DeepSeek’s code reflects his broader vision. He’s not just building a company; he’s fostering a movement. Colleagues describe him as a hands-on leader who sleeps in the office during crunch times and approaches problems with the precision of an engineer. He’s also refreshingly unpretentious, with little interest in the trappings of wealth or fame. “He doesn’t put much thought into clothes and hairstyle,” one colleague noted. “He makes decisions by applying formulas and calculations.”
The sudden popularity of DeepSeek’s models has caught even Liang off guard. Overwhelmed by user demand, the company’s servers have repeatedly crashed, forcing Liang and his team to work around the clock to stabilize the system. But don’t expect him to rest for long. After a brief break for the Lunar New Year, Liang will be back at work, developing DeepSeek’s next-generation model. If history is any indication, Silicon Valley should brace itself for what’s coming next.
FAQs:
1. Who is Liang Wenfeng?
Liang Wenfeng is the founder of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI lab known for its open-source R1 reasoning model. He is also the co-founder of High-Flyer, a quantitative hedge fund managing $8 billion.
2. What is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company that has gained global attention for its high-performance, open-source AI models, which compete with leading U.S. AI systems like ChatGPT.
3. What is High-Flyer?
High-Flyer is a quantitative hedge fund founded by Liang Wenfeng. It manages $8 billion and is known for applying AI techniques to financial markets.
4. Why is DeepSeek’s open-source model significant?
DeepSeek’s open-source approach challenges the proprietary models of big tech companies, democratizing access to advanced AI technology and fostering innovation.
5. How has Liang Wenfeng influenced the AI industry?
Liang has disrupted the AI industry by creating high-performance models with fewer resources, challenging Silicon Valley’s dominance, and promoting open-source culture.
