DeepSeek Founder Liang Wenfeng Resurfaces with Long-term Research Insights
Hello China Tech
DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng discussed the company's strategy in a leaked 4-hour investor meeting transcript, framing the performance gap with US AI labs as primarily a compute resource constraint rather than a talent or fundamental capability difference. Liang stated DeepSeek spent roughly 20 billion yuan in 2026 and operates with about one-twentieth of the compute available to major US competitors, with a goal of narrowing the timeline gap from two years to six months or less. The company plans to rely more on domestic Chinese chips (particularly Huawei's 950), maintain aggressive low-cost API pricing that recovers equipment costs in 10 months, and prioritize team retention through equity grants as critical to reaching AGI.
Why it matters
DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng resurfaced with a translated transcript expanding on long-term research.
