Early Life and Education

Liang Wenfeng, the founder of DeepSeek, has emerged as a key figure in China’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Born and raised in southern Guangdong, a region known for its early adoption of market capitalism, Liang grew up in an environment that valued business over academia. At 17, he enrolled at Zhejiang University, one of China’s top institutions, where he earned a master’s degree in Information and Communication Engineering in 2010.

From Finance to Artificial Intelligence

Liang’s career began in finance, where he established High-Flyer Quantitative Investment Management in 2015. The hedge fund specialized in algorithm-driven trading, eliminating human analysis in favor of machine learning-based decision-making. By the end of 2021, High-Flyer managed over 100 billion yuan (approximately $13.79 billion), cementing its status as a major player in China’s financial sector.

In April 2023, High-Flyer announced plans to expand beyond investment, redirecting its resources toward artificial general intelligence (AGI) research. A month later, DeepSeek was founded with the goal of advancing China’s AI capabilities.

The Rise of DeepSeek

DeepSeek quickly gained traction in the AI industry, particularly with its generative chatbot, which competes directly with ChatGPT and Gemini. Since its launch in July 2023, DeepSeek has become one of the most downloaded AI applications on Apple’s App Store. It is designed to provide solutions in programming, mathematics, and language processing, offering responses that are more dynamic and lifelike than its competitors.

Cost-Efficient AI Development

Unlike many Western AI companies that require billions of dollars in investment, DeepSeek was developed on a budget of just $6 million, fully funded by High-Flyer. The company leveraged existing NVIDIA A100 chips, which were still available in China despite U.S. export restrictions, and incorporated open-source AI models such as Meta’s Llama and Alibaba’s Qwen. This approach allowed DeepSeek to develop a high-performing AI model while keeping costs low.

A Vision for China’s AI Future

Liang has been vocal about China’s need to move beyond imitating Western technology. He has emphasized the importance of original innovation, stating, “We often say that there is a one- or two-year gap between Chinese and American AI, but the real gap is the difference between originality and imitation.”

By positioning DeepSeek as a serious contender in the AI landscape, Liang aims to establish China as a leader in artificial intelligence, proving that technological breakthroughs can be achieved with strategic resource allocation and efficient development.

PHOTO: ORIENTALDAILY

This article was created with AI assistance.