誰是人工智能初創DeepSeek的創辦人？ （2/2）

 Recently the New York Times reported the following:

Who Is the Founder of the A.I. Start-Up DeepSeek? (2/2)

The Chinese company DeepSeek seemed to have come out of nowhere this week when it upturned markets. Here’s what to know about Liang Wenfeng, the engineer who started it.

Jan. 29, 2025

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His 2010 thesis at Zhejiang University tackled what would soon become one of the hottest topics in Chinese A.I.: improving intelligent tracking algorithms for surveillance cameras.

Later, the hedge fund he co-founded was buffeted by regulatory pressures, eventually forcing the closure of one of its main investment products, according to Peter Alexander, managing director of Z-Ben Advisors, a market consultancy, who researches Chinese hedge funds.

“Between 2019 and 2023, they wanted to have this side project so that their Ph.D.s felt like they had something to do and so DeepSeek originated from that,” Mr. Alexander said.

“But it really went into overdrive when their primary investment product had to shut down in February of 2024,” he said.

In a way, it was China’s crackdown on the private sector that nudged DeepSeek toward long-term A.I. research.

He’s willing to try things other entrepreneurs will not. He even hired lit majors.

If you polled China’s A.I. experts on who would deliver the country’s first major generative A.I. breakthrough, few would have picked Mr. Liang. That included the Chinese government.

DeepSeek was a private company with no apparent state backing, no big-name alliances and none of the institutional heft of players like Baidu, the search giant. In a system that favored insiders, Mr. Liang was not one.

Yet, there’s precedent for that. Some of China’s most disruptive tech companies — Huawei, Alibaba, ByteDance — started outside the spotlight, only to redefine their industries.

Mr. Liang’s approach has been as unconventional as his company’s rise. He has emphasized intellectual exploration over sheer grind. His hiring philosophy is equally unorthodox — DeepSeek’s engineering teams have been joined by literature buffs to help refine the company’s A.I. models.

“Everyone has their own unique journey and brings their own ideas with them, so there’s no need to push them,” he said in the 36Kr interview.

In a tech culture defined by grueling hours and hierarchy, that outlook borders on Bohemian. Yet, Mr. Liang insists change is necessary if China wants to lead in frontier A.I. innovation.

“When ChatGPT came out, the entire industry in China lacked the confidence to pursue frontier innovation,” he said.

“Innovation starts with confidence — and we often see that more from young people.”

Translation

誰是人工智能初創DeepSeek的創辦人？ （2/2）

本週，中國公司DeepSeek 似乎突然出現，扭轉了市場局勢。以下是關於這家公司的創始人工程師梁文峰的一些資訊。

（繼續）

他在2010年浙江大學的論文研究, 成為後來中國人工智慧最熱門的議題之一：改進監視攝影機的智能追蹤演算法。

研究中國對沖基金的市場顧問公司 Z-Ben Advisors 董事總經理 Peter Alexander 表示，後來，由他聯合創建的對沖基金受到監管壓力的連續衝擊，最終導致其主要投資產品之一關閉。

Alexander說: 「2019 年至 2023 年期間，他們希望開展這個副項目，以便他們的博士生們覺得有事可做，DeepSeek 由此誕生」。

他說：“但當他們的主要投資產品不得不在 2024 年 2 月關閉時，這項目才真正進入超速運作, 加倍努力的狀態。”

從某種程度上來說，正是中國對私人企業的受打擊而推動了 DeepSeek 走向長期人工智能研究。

他願意嘗試其他企業家不願意做的事情。他甚至聘請了主修文學的大學生。

如果你對中國的人工智能專家進行調查, 去看他們討論誰將會推出全國第一個重要的生成人工智能, 很少人會選擇梁先生。這包括中國政府。

DeepSeek 是一家私人公司，沒有明顯的政府支持，沒有大牌聯盟，也不具備搜尋巨頭百度等公司的機構影響力。在一個有利於內部人員的體制中，梁先生不是其中之一員。

但這樣的事是有先例的。華為、阿里巴巴、字節跳動等中國最具顛覆性的科技公司起步於受社會廣泛關注之外，但卻能重新定義了各自的產業。

梁先生的做事方法和他的公司崛起一樣是非傳統的。他強調智力探索而非單純的刻苦學習。他的招募理念同樣非傳統同 - DeepSeek 的工程團隊聘請了文學愛好者來幫助完善公司的人工智能模型。

他在接受36Kr採訪時表示: 「每個人都有自己獨特的人生旅程，帶着自己的想法，所以沒必要強迫他們」。

在以艱苦的工作時間和階級制度為特徵的科技文化中，這種觀點近乎波希米亞主義者 (Bohemian)。然而，梁先生堅稱，如果中國想在人工智能新境界創新方面佔據領先地位，就必須做出改變。

他說： “當ChatGPT問世時，中國整個行業都缺乏追求新境界創新的信心。”

“創新始於信心 - 我們在年輕人身上經常看到它。”

              So, I am impressed by Liang Wenfeng in that he points out why the China’s biggest investors and tech firms have failed to anticipate the rise of generative A.I.- because China’s companies are obsessed with quick returns in a fiercely competitive market. I am also impressed by the fact that DeepSeek’s engineering teams have literature buffs helping to refine the company’s A.I. models based on the belief that “Everyone has their own unique journey and brings their own ideas with them”.

Note:

1. Bohemianism (波希米亞主義) is a social and cultural movement that has, at its core, a way of life away from society's conventional norms and expectations. The term originates from the French bohème and spread to the English-speaking world. It was used to describe mid-19th-century non-traditional lifestyles, especially of artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors in major European cities. (Wikipedia)