SenseTime: Founder Tang Xiaoou passed away due to illness

SenseTime released an obituary, announcing a painful news, like a long dark night. Tang Xiaoou, the founder, artificial intelligence scientist, director of Pujiang Laboratory, director of Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and professor of Chinese University of Hong Kong, left us forever at 23:45 on December 15, 2023, like a bright meteor piercing the sky and disappearing into the endless depths of the universe. Tang Xiaoou's life is like a epic of ups and downs and magnificent waves. In 1968, he was born in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, like a rare treasure quietly sprouting in that land. After entering the University of Science and Technology of China, he showed extraordinary talent, like a blooming wonder blooming in the center of the campus, attracting everyone's attention. He went to the United States for further study, like a lone wolf chasing the light, through many difficulties, and finally reached the peak of Master of Science and Ph.D. During his time at MIT, he joined the Undersea Robotics Lab, like a brave explorer searching for treasures in the ocean and embarking on a journey of exploration in the field of artificial intelligence.

After graduating, Tang Xiaoou chose to join the Department of Information Engineering of the University of Hong Kong Chinese, and it was here that he soared in the vast sea of scientific research, farther and farther away. In 2001, Tang Xiaoou founded the Multimedia Lab, a start-up team that would later become the predecessor of SenseTime. Since then, he has continued to create miracles in the field of scientific research, like a dazzling sun rising from the horizon. In 2005, he joined Microsoft Research and continued to explore and move forward in related research in the field of computing, like a tireless explorer, traversing unknown areas and finding new boundaries of technology. Over time, he served as Vice President of the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of the Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence and Data Lab, and Head of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center. In 2014, Tang Xiaoou founded SenseTime, just like a creator who conceived his own children, and the SenseTime technology he created single-handedly has repeatedly won championships in international machine vision-related competitions, attracting the attention of countless investment institutions. Tang Xiaoou's life is full of legends, he is like an otherworldly explorer, leaving a deep footprint in the ocean of science and technology.

Until he leaves, his light will forever shine in the vast sky of artificial intelligence, like a star that never falls. SenseTime is like a giant ship breaking the waves in the turbulent ocean, and has gone through 13 financings, with a cumulative financing amount of more than US$5 billion, like a pyramid towering at the top of the market. SoftBank, Alibaba, Silver Lake Capital, IDG Capital and many other well-known institutions and enterprises have flocked to it, just like the stars shining in the brilliant starry sky. At the end of 2021, SenseTime successfully landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which is like a magnificent mountaineering feat, with a market value of nearly HK$140 billion in one fell swoop, like a ray of morning light sprinkled on the earth, bringing infinite vitality and hope. However, on the fourth day after listing, the company's market value soared, exceeding HK$320 billion for a time, like a dazzling meteor piercing the sky, shocking the world. As of the close of trading on December 15, SenseTime's share price closed at HK$1.26 per share, with a total market value of 42.171 billion yuan, and Tang Xiaoou's shareholding market value was about HK$8.7 billion, like a dazzling diamond, which is eye-catching. Tang Xiaoou is like a wise navigator, and his shareholding in SenseTime has made him a legend of wealth.

Since 2017, he has repeatedly appeared on the "Hurun Report" and has become a legend of wealth. In October this year, the "Hurun Report" fixed his worth at about 10 billion yuan, ranking 585th, like a dazzling Big Dipper shining in the sky of wealth. He proved with his actions that "doing what no one else has done", like a bright sun piercing the clouds and shining a different light. In Tang's view, empathy is crucial. In his commencement speech at Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, he said that to be a good scholar, it takes not only training, talent, perseverance and wisdom, but also empathy and how to work with people with different perspectives. When explaining the company's corporate culture, Tang Xiaoou said, "Our company's culture is sheep, and SenseTime is a very sympathetic and empathetic company. But sheep also have disadvantages, such as the herd effect, so we want to be a different sheep - Black Sheep, to do things that others have not done, or even things that others can't think of. He is like a wise farmer, planting a maverick "black sheep" for the enterprise, just like embellishing a splendid flower in the green and shady countryside.

In the hot land of SenseTime, it has also attracted a large number of AI talents. According to the company's prospectus, as of the end of June 2021, the company has more than 3,600 scientific researchers, more than two-thirds of the total number of enterprises, like a huge army, providing strong support for the growth of SenseTime. Nourished by cutting-edge technology and multi-party funds, SenseTime has continued to grow in recent years, and from 2018 to 2022, the company's revenue has increased from 1.853 billion yuan to 3.809 billion yuan, like a vigorous and towering tree, thriving and flourishing. In the first half of 2023, SenseTime is like a galloping horse, galloping by, creating remarkable performance. Like a tireless explorer, SenseTime has delved into the treasures of AI vision, drawing strength and expanding its business scope to four major areas: smart business, smart life, smart city and smart car. The achievements of SenseTime are like a rich fruit, and the performance of the smart business and smart life sectors has grown rapidly, just like a smart artist skillfully deploying in the field of generative AI, which is like injecting a shot in the arm into this field.

The company has not only laid out 6 types of generative AI products such as SenseChat chat assistant and Ronin SenseAvatar, but also has shown strong vitality in this booming field. In the first half of 2023, SenseTime's generative AI revenue increased by 670.4% year-on-year, and its business contribution rate soared to 20.3% from 10.4% in 2022. Although there is still a huge challenge of a net loss of 2.39 billion yuan in the commercial river, it narrowed by 6.7% year-on-year, showing the company's tenacious and unyielding spirit.