"Proud" "Warmly Welcomed"... Chaos at the Place Visited by 40-Year-Old Deepseek Founder

Giant Balloon Signs Welcome DeepSeek Founder
Tourists Take Photos Amid Hometown Celebration

Liang Yuanfeng (40), founder of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, is drawing attention as he visits his hometown in Guangdong Province to celebrate the Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year).

A red banner welcoming Liang Yuanfeng (40), founder of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, to his hometown of Wuchuan, Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, was erected. Douyin

On the 31st, Yonhap News quoted local Guangdong media such as Nanfang Dushibao and Zhanjiang Daily, reporting that "during the Spring Festival, China's largest holiday, Liang Yuanfeng visited Wuchuan in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, his hometown."

According to the reports, red banners welcoming his return appeared throughout Wuchuan, along with giant balloon signs. The banners bore phrases such as "Warmly welcome your homecoming," "Your hometown is proud of you," and "Liang Yuanfeng's success is a new driving force for rural development." Some tourists even took commemorative photos with the banners as the backdrop.

Liang Yuanfeng stayed in his hometown around the lunar New Year's Day on the 29th. He played soccer with his former classmates, a sport he has loved since childhood, but other activities during his visit were not disclosed. It is said that he told acquaintances, "Even if I go home for the Spring Festival, I want to keep a low profile."

Born to elementary school teacher parents, Liang Yuanfeng grew up in an ordinary family and showed particular talent in mathematics from an early age. His middle school homeroom teacher, Mr. Long, said, "Liang Yuanfeng had already completed high school mathematics and was studying university-level math while in middle school," adding, "His mathematical thinking was exceptionally outstanding." His high school classmate, Mr. Chen, said, "Liang Yuanfeng loved experimental assignments and soccer," and "After founding his company, he showed relentless curiosity by developing products like fully automatic embroidery machines."

At age 17 in 2002, Liang Yuanfeng achieved the top score in his school's Gaokao (China's college entrance exam) and entered the prestigious Zhejiang University’s Department of Electronic Information Engineering, where he earned both bachelor's and master's degrees. His 2010 master's thesis was titled "Improvement of Intelligent Tracking Algorithms for AI Surveillance Cameras." He founded High-Flyer in 2015, growing it into one of China's largest quantitative hedge funds, and established DeepSeek in 2023.

Liang Yuanfeng, founder of DeepSeek (front row, right). Photo by CGTN, Yonhap News

DeepSeek is recognized for leading innovation by presenting "low-cost, high-performance" AI models. While attention is focused on its founder Liang Yuanfeng, he rarely gives interviews or makes public appearances. According to the BBC, those close to Liang describe him as "more of an eccentric than a CEO."

Meanwhile, it has recently become a topic of interest that he attended a roundtable meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Chang this month. On the same day as the roundtable, which was also the inauguration day of U.S. President Donald Trump on the 20th of this month, DeepSeek officially announced its latest model, the R1. The specific content of his remarks at the roundtable has not been disclosed. However, Chinese media reported that his appearance at this event marked the first time he attracted significant market attention.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.