Time magazine has named Liang Wenfeng, the mind behind Chinese AI firm DeepSeek, one of the 100 most influential people of 2025. He appears in the Pioneers section of this year’s prestigious list.
Liang, a veteran of neural network development for stock trading, turned his attention to generative AI and language models in 2023. Just a year later, his company’s chatbot upended the global tech landscape.
In late 2024, DeepSeek launched a language model that stunned the market. It outperformed industry giants and emerged as a formidable challenger to OpenAI’s ChatGPT—without the advantage of deep-pocketed investors or access to US-made chips.
The ripple effects were immediate. Nvidia’s shares plunged, wiping out around $600 billion in market capitalisation. At the same time, the success of DeepSeek fuelled a rally in Chinese tech stocks, signalling a potential power shift in the AI race.
Liang’s rise, marked by innovation against the odds, has not only redefined China’s position in global AI—but also challenged the dominance of Silicon Valley.
