DeepSeek founder Lian Wenfeng is being hailed as a hero within the southern Chinese language province of Guangdong, the place he grew up and reportedly returned for the Lunar New Yr, joined by bodyguards.

Wenfeng—who, at 40, is already a billionaire as a consequence of his hedge fund, Excessive-Flyer—is outwardly much more beloved by locals following DeepSeek’s breakthrough analysis, which demonstrated that robust AI fashions might be constructed with fewer and less-powerful Nvidia chips. The discovering has important implications, notably in China, the place entry to the highest-end chips has been restricted.

Residents of his native group tell the Financial Times that Wenfeng was a “prime pupil” who beloved comedian books, was a math whiz, and got here from a household of educators. In keeping with one native, Wenfeng additionally performed some soccer. “All of us grew up on this village,” the resident tells the FT. “We’re very pleased with him.”

Regardless of his rising star, Wenfeng has largely prevented public consideration, irritating these desirous to study extra about him. Given the destiny of high-flying Chinese language CEOs like Jack Ma and Pony Ma — who confronted authorities scrutiny after gaining a bit of an excessive amount of visibility — don’t be shocked if Wenfeng chooses to remain within the background.