Liang Wengfeng, DeepSeek Founder, Emerges Publicly After Revolutionizing AI in the West

The enigmatic founder of the disruptive Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, Liang Wenfeng, has been observed attending a conference in Beijing. This appearance marks his first public sighting following the company’s significant impact on the tech landscape, which came just a week after he skipped a major global AI summit in Paris.

Prior to the launch of DeepSeek’s AI model, the United States was perceived to dominate the global artificial intelligence landscape, with all ten leading AI companies headquartered there. However, the introduction of DeepSeek’s advanced model, which offers a more cost-effective alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has begun to challenge this notion of monopoly.

As a result of DeepSeek’s revelations, shares of key AI chip manufacturer Nvidia, as well as tech giants Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Alphabet, experienced a decline. Interestingly, despite the tumult in the Western market, Liang Wenfeng opted not to attend the recent AI conference in Paris.

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, was present at the Paris summit and expressed his interest in collaborating with China, although he was uncertain about the possibility of government support for such interactions. “Should we try as hard as we absolutely can [to work with them]? Yes,” he stated.

On Monday, Liang Wenfeng was spotted at a rare gathering hosted by President Xi Jinping, which included some of the leading figures in China’s technology sector. During this meeting, the president encouraged tech leaders to “show their talent” and to have confidence in the strength of China’s market and model. Analysts believe this gathering underscores the Chinese government’s apprehension regarding its technological standing in relation to the United States.

Christopher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics in Hong Kong, remarked, “It’s a tacit acknowledgment that the Chinese government needs private-sector firms for its tech rivalry with the United States. The government has no choice but to support them if it wants to compete with the United States.”