Tencent's Chief AI Scientist Explains His Decision to Join the Tech Giant

Deep News06-05 10:31

At the Tencent Cloud AI Industrial Application Conference held today, a key dialogue took place between TENCENT's Senior Executive Vice President and CEO of the Cloud and Smart Industries Group, Dowson Tong, and the company's Chief AI Scientist, Shunyu "Vinces" Yao. The discussion centered on the next phase of TENCENT's artificial intelligence strategy.

When asked about his reasons for choosing to join TENCENT, Yao highlighted the company's culture as the most significant factor. "The most important reason is the culture," Yao stated. "I remember my first conversation with you (Dowson Tong) and many other senior executives. My first impression was that everyone was incredibly honest—very straightforward about what was done well and what wasn't, with no attempt to cover things up. I found this candor to be my primary and most important reason."

Yao elaborated on a second crucial factor, noting, "The second reason is that TENCENT is fundamentally a company that operates on trust rather than just metrics. I believe this is vital for AI work, including our commitment to a long-term vision."

Yao is a graduate of the prestigious Tsinghua University "Yao Class" and holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton University. He joined OpenAI in August 2024 as a Research Scientist, focusing on translating large language model theory into practical applications, particularly in AI Agent development. He is credited with leading the development of OpenAI's first publicly released agent model and product and contributed to the Deep Research project. In 2025, Yao was named to the MIT Technology Review's TR35 list, becoming one of the youngest Chinese recipients of the award.

In December 2025, TENCENT restructured its large model research and development framework, establishing new departments for AI Infrastructure, AI Data, and Data Computing Platforms to comprehensively strengthen its core capabilities. Yao was appointed as Chief AI Scientist within the CEO/President's Office, reporting to TENCENT President Martin Lau. He also concurrently leads the AI Infrastructure and Large Language Model departments, reporting to TENCENT Senior Executive Vice President and President of the Technology and Engineering Group, Shan Lu.

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