​Liang Wenfeng is a Chinese entrepreneur and computer scientist renowned for his transformative work in quantitative finance and artificial intelligence. In 2015, Liang co-founded High-Flyer, a quantitative hedge fund that integrated AI and machine learning into trading strategies, amassing over 100 billion yuan (approximately $14 billion) in assets under management by 2021. Anticipating the growing significance of AI, he began stockpiling Nvidia GPUs in 2021, prior to U.S. export restrictions. ​

This foresight led to the establishment of DeepSeek in 2023, an AI company that quickly gained international attention by developing advanced models like DeepSeek V3 and R1. These models matched or surpassed the capabilities of competitors such as OpenAI and Google, but were developed at a fraction of the cost—reportedly under $6 million. DeepSeek’s success propelled it to the top of the U.S. iOS App Store in early 2025, surpassing ChatGPT. ​