NYMag: China's biggest AI-course seller has 80,000 paying members and a pyramid-like system
kevinsxu · x · 2026-10-16
Journalist Afra Wang publishes part two of her "AI and the Chinese society" trilogy in NYMag, based on an on-the-ground visit to China's largest get-rich-with-AI course company.
- The company has 80,000+ paying members, meeting rooms named "Apostle of the Method" and "Evangelist," and a gamified tiered membership (Dragon Balls → Navigator → Deep-Sea Circle → partner level) the author likens to a pyramid scheme and a prosperity-gospel church, echoing Beijing's "AI Plus" plan.
- Founder Yiren, who left Alibaba in 2017, built the business from paywalled money-making dispatches, turned himself into a WeChat AI chatbot, and even launched a "Making Dollars Together" class; in-house influencer "Mr. Tree" preaches that "AI is your silicon-based labor force, running 7-by-24."
- A counterpoint: Liangzhu, China's "vibe-coding capital," where young people teach each other AI for free in living rooms, alongside portraits like 25-year-old filmmaker Xiaokai.
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