hi Guangyao, who should have been a third-year student at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), is now the co-founder, shareholder and executive of Shanghai LangCore Co., Ltd, a company based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and products.

At the age of 20, Chi applied for temporary absence from school to start his own business.

This is what Chi had expected, though it is not an easy choice. “I always like exploring new things,” he said.

Chi used to focus on achieving high scores during study. He has excelled in academic performance since he majored in SISU’s New Media and Online Journalism. He won SISU’s top scholarship every semester. However, since then he has begun to doubt the value of merely pursuing for high marks.

In January 2023, Chi Guangyao spent his winter vacation writing a program called “TimeTrace”. It can record users’ every operation under their permission and allow them to go back to any previous step, which is not available with computer’s own functions. At that time, Chi never thought about going deeper into this field.

The introduction of ChatGPT has driven Chi to start an entrepreneurial journey. Open AI announced the launch of the ChatGPT Application Programming Interface (API) on March 1, 2023, which means that enterprises or individual developers can integrate ChatGPT into their own products and applications.

Chi’s life has changed since then. In March, he wrote another program called “BillyGPT”, which allows people to conveniently use ChatGPT without Virtual Private Network (VPN). A month later, Zhai Xingji, who had just resigned from a leading company, wanted to cooperate with him. The two hit it off and formed a partnership in May, establishing the company named “LangCore”.

The company then launched its first free product — CopyAsk. It helps users to interpret, translate, summarize text, and can also quickly make auto-continuing and rewriting. From June to August, the number of CopyAsk users increased from 5,000 to 30,000.

At that time, MiraclePlus, a top investment institution in China, promised to invest $300,000 in their company. The investment as well as the confidence in the prospect of AI made Chi determined to apply for a leave of absence from school and start his own business.

However, it is not an easy road. “I had assumed that I could concentrate on writing code, but in fact, I have to bear the pressure of employees’ wages, withstand online rumors, and be responsible for the survival of our company,” Chi said.

To get more investment, Chi participated in the 2023 Autumn Roadshow Day of MiraclePlus in Beijing on November 24. A total of 67 companies attended, with 51 of them focusing on large-scale AI models. The average age of the founders involved was 28.8 years old. It was the most crucial moment for startups. Each founding team needed to give a three-minute speech to gain attention of over 1,000 investors. 

Since he set up his own company, Chi Guangyao has been trying to work against time to learn more things about product development as well as business management, like reading academic papers, writing code, and keeping up with various new technologies.

As of now, the number of CopyAsk users has exceeded 100,000. Meanwhile, with no marketing expenses, the company’s account on Bilibili, a YouTube-like platform, has attracted about 44,000 followers.

“The process of creating products is very enjoyable, just like a child playing with LEGO bricks,” Chi said.

Chi is one of the young entrepreneurs in the wave of starting business sparked by AI. According to Dingjiao, a media outlet focused on AI, more and more young people, who are in their early twenties, are diving into entrepreneurship. The projects they are working on are diverse, such as the metaverse, virtual reality (VR), AI-generated content (AIGC), 3D printing. 

“Life is not defined by established practices, past experiences, or social expectations. It is defined by your imagination, courage and resolution. That is all about yourself,” he added.