<div id="readability-page-1">The potential emergence of a new DeepSeek spokesman has sparked intrigue as speculation over the whereabouts of founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng continues, more than a year after his last public appearance. While the Hangzhou start-up’s latest V4 model did not make the same waves as its breakout moment a year earlier, the much-anticipated release still grabbed headlines through a collaboration with domestic tech giant Huawei Technologies and its remarkably low prices. For the traditionally low-profile firm, a recent change to its shareholding structure suggests that Liang’s control over the company has not waned. Still, developments in recent days point to a new public face for the start-up. Where is Liang Wenfeng? Liang has not appeared publicly since a high-profile televised meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February last year, immediately after the release of DeepSeek’s R1 model. Yet there were no signs that his leading role had changed. According to corporate database Qichacha, Liang’s equity stake had recently increased to 34 per cent from 1 per cent, with his subscribed capital jumping from 100,000 yuan (US$14,630) to 5.1 million yuan. DeepSeek’s registered capital also rose from 10 million yuan to 15 million yuan.  The change in shareholding came as DeepSeek began raising external capital for the first time, the South China Morning Post reported last week, citing people familiar with the matter. Under China’s company law, approval by shareholders representing more than two-thirds of voting rights is needed for key company decisions. Who is Chen Deli? Senior researcher Chen Deli was among a few DeepSeek personnel to post publicly on their own personal X accounts on Friday following the V4’s release. He wrote to his almost 24,000 followers: “484 days later, we humbly share our labour of love. As always, we stay true to long-termism and open source for all.” The short post contrasted with DeepSeek’s online presence in previous years, when several researchers were active on X, the most popular online gathering place for artificial intelligence researchers. According to his archived profile on coding platform GitHub, Chen completed both his undergraduate and master’s studies at Peking University, where he was a member of the famed Language Computing and Machine Learning Group (Lanco Lab) at the School of Computer Science. The lab boasts several alumni now leading AI development efforts at major Chinese companies, including Xiaomi’s Luo Fuli and Alibaba Group Holding’s former Qwen team technical lead Lin Junyang. Since joining DeepSeek in 2023, Chen’s name has appeared in every major model release from the firm, including V3, R1 and V4. According to Google Scholar, Chen had more than 22,000 citations to his name, placing him on the same level of academic impact as tenured professors. What has Chen said? Chen’s first major public appearance was in March 2024, when he spoke at US chip giant Nvidia’s flagship GTC conference on behalf of DeepSeek and its parent company High-Flyer Quant. In a 20-minute video presentation, Chen explained the challenge of aligning AI models with diverse human values, proposing instead a “decoupling” framework that allowed for “cultural value diversity”. His next major appearance was in November, when he stood in for Liang at a state-backed industry event alongside the heads of five other companies, which together with DeepSeek are collectively known as China’s “Six Little Dragons”. In remarks that went viral, Chen told industry peers and government officials he was pessimistic about AI’s overall impact on society, warning that most jobs could eventually be automated and calling for AI companies to act as “whistle-blowers” by telling the public which jobs would be made redundant first. Is DeepSeek losing its star researchers? Given China’s cutthroat competition for AI talent, there has been constant speculation about whether DeepSeek could keep its star researchers out of the hands of Big Tech firms with much deeper pockets. The V4 release provided some answers. According to the technical paper accompanying the model, DeepSeek’s research and engineering team had expanded to 270 staff, up from 212 in early December, a gain of more than 27 per cent. Crucially, the paper confirmed that most of DeepSeek’s 18 “core contributors” to its groundbreaking R1 model were still at the company. Only two had departed: Guo Daya, who joined TikTok owner ByteDance, according to domestic media reports, and Zhang Haowei, whose next destination remained unknown. </div>

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<p>DeepSeek's founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng has not been seen publicly for over a year, raising questions about the company's leadership. Despite this, Liang's control appears intact, with his equity stake increasing significantly. Senior researcher Chen Deli has emerged as a potential new spokesperson, recently presenting at major industry events. DeepSeek's latest V4 model, released in collaboration with Huawei, has generated interest, although it did not achieve the same impact as previous models. The company has expanded its research team, indicating resilience amid competition for AI talent.</p>

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DeepSeek mystery: who is speaking for start-up amid CEO Liang Wenfeng’s absence?