The Controversy of Yang Zhilin Returning to China to Found a Startup
firstadopter · x · 2026-07-19
This quoted post revolves around why Yang Zhilin did not stay in the US to start his business.
The core argument is that attributing his return to China simply because "it's harder to get funding in the US" is inaccurate. The author believes that given his background—a CMU PhD, Tsinghua pedigree, and experience at Meta AI / Google Brain—he could easily secure top-tier opportunities and capital in the US. The real difference is that returning to China makes it easier for him to keep technology, financing, compute power, talent, and product decision-making entirely within his startup, rather than just being a top scientist inside a tech giant.
The author further argues that if the US wants to maintain its edge in the global AI race, it should be more proactive in retaining top AI PhD talent, such as granting green cards directly to the best doctoral graduates. The post concludes with a remark carrying undertones of discrimination and immigration enforcement.
Related event: Why Yang Zhilin Chose to Return to China to Build an AI Startup(4 posts)→
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