Liang Wenfeng: A man with modest beginning and extraordinary vision
Liang Wenfeng, born in 1985 in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, never imagined he would one day challenge global tech giants. The son of an school teacher, Wenfeng’s formative years were marked by a love of learning and a passion for problem-solving. His academic journey took him from humble beginnings to prestigious institutions, where he cultivated his expertise in artificial intelligence.
Liang Wenfeng, pursued his education at Zhejiang University, earning a Bachelor’s in electronic information engineering in 2007 and a Master’s in information and communication engineering in 2010. His master’s dissertation, supervised by Professor Xiang Zhiyu, explored target tracking algorithms using low-cost PTZ cameras. During his academic years, Liang’s curiosity about artificial intelligence (AI) was piqued, leading him to envision AI’s transformative potential in various industries, including finance.
After graduation, Liang founded several companies integrating AI with quantitative trading, notably Hangzhou Yakebi Investment Management in 2013 and Zhejiang Jiuzhang Asset Management in 2015. In 2019, he launched High-Flyer AI, a venture managing over 10 billion yuan in assets, and later founded DeepSeek in 2023, focusing on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Known for acquiring a vast number of Nvidia GPUs to fuel his projects, Liang has been a prominent figure in AI and quantitative finance, contributing significantly to China’s innovation landscape.
Armed with determination and a belief in innovation, Liang founded DeepSeek with a mission: to make AI accessible and affordable. In just a few short years, his company has achieved what was previously unthinkable—offering a top-tier AI model for just $6 million, a stark contrast to the billions poured in by Meta, Google, and Microsoft.
Rewriting the rules of AI innovation
DeepSeek made headlines in January 2025 with the release of DeepSeek-R1, an open-source inference model that delivered cutting-edge performance at 1/30th the API cost of OpenAI. Its accessibility attracted global users, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), eager to retrain and customize the model for their own needs.
What sets DeepSeek apart is its commitment to openness and affordability. “We didn’t aim to disrupt the market,” Liang shared in an interview. “We simply focused on making AI accessible without excessive profit margins.” This bold move has ignited a price war, forcing even Chinese tech giants like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent to lower their prices in response.
In an industry where many Chinese firms have traditionally followed Western models, Liang Wenfeng is determined to break the mold. Unlike competitors who rely on existing structures like Llama, DeepSeek is committed to foundational research aimed at achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).