Former richest man Chen Tianqiao's new start-up company aims to compete with DeepSeek, and has invited domestic AI expert Dai Jifeng to join.

Domestic renowned young AI scientist, Deputy Professor Dai Jifeng from Tsinghua University's Department of Electronic Engineering, recently joined Shanda Network under Chen Tianqiao and is preparing for a new AI startup company. It is reported that Shanda's founder Chen Tianqiao has high hopes for this new AI startup led by Dai Jifeng, and has set out three main R&D focuses for the company: commercial AI decision-making intelligence, breakthrough algorithm distribution, and AI services for aging and youth development. Both Dai Jifeng and Shanda have confirmed that Dai Jifeng is transferring from Tsinghua University to Shanda, and relevant departure and onboarding procedures are currently underway. Chen Tianqiao also promised that half of the profits from all AI enterprises incubated internally by Shanda will be shared with the teams. "Professor Dai is not joining an existing department at Shanda but a newly established company," said a source close to Dai Jifeng. The company Dai Jifeng is building is related to quantitative trading and may follow a similar path to DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, who started in quantitative trading before moving into AI. However, both Dai Jifeng and Shanda have denied this.