Meet Yang Zhilin, the CEO and founder behind China's buzzy new Kimi K3 AI model
Yang Zhilin, a former Google and Meta researcher, is gaining attention for his startup Moonshot AI and its new Kimi K3 model. The model's performance and cost-efficiency are challenging the dominance of American AI labs.
Why it matters
The emergence of high-performing, cost-effective Chinese AI models signals a shift in the global AI race, challenging the current lead held by Silicon Valley firms.
Yang Zhilin, cofounder of Moonshot AI, the Chinese company behind Kimi K3, speaks at a conference in Beijing. VCG/VCG via Getty Images Yang Zhilin is the CEO and cofounder of Moonshot AI. Moonshot's Kimi K3 is the latest Chinese AI model to rattle Silicon Valley. Yang went to Carnegie Mellon University and worked at Meta and Google before returning to China. There's a founder making waves in the AI industry that's not an American tech billionaire like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, or Dario Amodei. Yang Zhilin is the 34-year-old researcher and entrepreneur behind the Chinese company Moonshot AI and its new open-weight Kimi K3 AI model, which seized Silicon Valley's attention this week. Kimi K3 is the latest buzzy open-weight model from China.
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