At the age of 16, he entered the Young Scholars Program at the University of Science and Technology of China, graduated with a PhD at 25, and led Cambricon to the Science and Technology Innovation Board at 35. This scientist and entrepreneur from Nanchang, Jiangxi, is paving the way for China’s independent innovation in AI chips.
On July 20, 2020, a special company was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in China—Cambricon Technologies. Known as the “first AI chip stock“, this company took only 116 days from submitting its prospectus to officially going public, with a market value exceeding 100 billion yuan on the day of listing. The mastermind behind this is Chen Tianshi, an unassuming “post-80s” scientist wearing glasses.
01 A Prodigy from a Family of Scholars
Born in June 1985 in a family of intellectuals in Nanchang, Jiangxi, Chen Tianshi’s father is an electrical engineer and his mother is a history teacher. The educational emphasis in the family laid a solid foundation for the growth of the two brothers. Even before Chen Tianshi was born, his parents had already bought mathematics competition books for their children. Chen Tianshi’s older brother, Chen Yunjie, who is two years his senior, displayed remarkable learning talent from a young age. He completed the five-year primary school curriculum in just four years and won numerous awards in national Olympiads during his youth. In 1997, at the age of 14, Chen Yunjie was admitted to the Young Scholars Program at the University of Science and Technology of China. Influenced by the family atmosphere, Chen Tianshi entered Nanchang No. 2 High School in 1998. In his youth, he was somewhat mischievous and even addicted to video games. His brother Chen Yunjie told him at the time: “Playing games is easier in college! At home, your parents supervise you, but in college, no one will care!” This statement became one of the motivations for Chen Tianshi to study hard and gain admission to the Young Scholars Program at USTC.
02 Years at USTC: From Underachiever to Research Rising Star
In 2001, at the age of 16, Chen Tianshi successfully entered the Young Scholars Program at the University of Science and Technology of China, majoring in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. It is quite rare in the history of the university for two brothers to be admitted to the Young Scholars Program together. In the early years of college, Chen Tianshi was not a traditional “good student”. He later admitted: “I had no goals during my undergraduate years; I found attending classes and doing homework too hard and tiring, while playing games was much more enjoyable.” This attitude once put his academic performance at risk. By the end of his sophomore year, he was even at risk of failing an optics and atomic physics course—he had not attended any classes that semester and missed the midterm exam. Fortunately, the teacher gave him a chance to retake the exam, and he barely passed with a score of over 70. The turning point came in his senior year. Seeing his classmates going abroad or working at well-known institutions, Chen Tianshi suddenly realized he was falling behind. Driven by the pressure to survive, he began to prepare seriously for graduate school and successfully entered the School of Computer Science at USTC in 2005.
03 Research Journey: Persistence in a Niche Field
During his graduate studies, Chen Tianshi studied under Academician Chen Guoliang and Professor Yao Xin from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At Yao’s suggestion, he chose the then relatively niche field of artificial intelligence as his research focus. His interdisciplinary background from mathematics to computer science provided a unique advantage for his subsequent research. From 2005 to 2010, he completed his doctoral studies in five years and published dozens of papers in important journals and conferences such as IEEE/ACM Transactions and Theoretical Computer Science. After graduating with a PhD in 2010, Chen Tianshi joined the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, starting as an assistant researcher and beginning his research career. Meanwhile, his brother Chen Yunjie had joined the “Loongson 3” development team, focusing on chip design. The two brothers, one focusing on algorithms and the other on chips, established a solid foundation for their future entrepreneurial collaboration with this combination of software and hardware. In 2010, they conceived the idea of combining artificial intelligence with chips, but at that time, this interdisciplinary direction was quite “niche”, and they even found it difficult to apply for 200,000 yuan in research funding.
04 The Birth of Cambricon: The “Cambrian Explosion” of AI Chips
The turning point came in 2016. With the support of Academician Li Guojie, the director of the Institute of Computing Technology, Chen Tianshi co-founded Cambricon Technologies with the institute. The company was named “Cambricon”, symbolizing the “explosion of life in the intelligent era”. The timing of Cambricon’s establishment was perfect. In March 2016, Google’s AlphaGo defeated South Korean player Lee Sedol, sparking global interest in artificial intelligence. As one of the few domestic companies focused on AI chip development, Cambricon quickly attracted capital interest. In August 2016, Cambricon received angel investments of 10 million yuan from iFlytek and 30 million yuan from Yuanhe Origin. A year later, the company secured 100 million USD in Series A funding from Alibaba, Guotou Chuangye, and other institutions. Technological breakthroughs were key to Cambricon’s early development. In 2017, just one year after its establishment, Cambricon partnered with Huawei to launch the Cambricon 1A chip, which was integrated into Huawei’s Kirin 970 chip and used in Huawei’s flagship phone, the Mate 10, making it the world’s first smartphone equipped with an AI chip.
05 Capital Market: The “First AI Chip Stock” on the Science and Technology Innovation Board
On July 20, 2020, Cambricon successfully went public on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, becoming the domestic “first AI chip stock“. This IPO raised approximately 2.58 billion yuan, providing ample ammunition for the company’s subsequent research and development. After going public, Cambricon’s market value soared. As of September 2025, Cambricon’s stock price had risen from the issue price of 64.39 yuan per share to 1480 yuan per share. In August 2025, the company’s market value briefly exceeded 500 billion yuan. With the growth of the company’s market value, Chen Tianshi’s personal wealth also increased significantly. According to the “2025 Hurun Rich List” released in October 2025, Chen Tianshi ranked 18th with a wealth of 180 billion yuan, rising 122 places from 2024, with a wealth increase of 463%.
06 Technological Innovation: Full-Scene Layout from Edge to Cloud
Cambricon’s success stems from its continuous technological innovation and full-scene product layout. Since its establishment, the company has launched integrated AI chip solutions for both edge and cloud. On the edge side, Cambricon’s collaboration with Huawei has solidified its position in the smartphone AI chip market. On the cloud side, the company has launched the SiYuan series cloud AI chips, providing powerful computing support for data centers. The complementary professional backgrounds of the two brothers are a significant source of Cambricon’s technological advantage. Chen Tianshi excels in algorithms and architecture, while Chen Yunjie focuses on chip design. This “combination of software and hardware” synergy has allowed Cambricon to build a unique technological barrier in the AI chip field. Notably, both brothers received the Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award in 2021 for their contributions to the intersection of AI and chip research, which is an official recognition of their research capabilities.
07 Management Philosophy: Transitioning from Scientist to Entrepreneur
Chen Tianshi has a unique management philosophy as he successfully transitioned from scientist to entrepreneur. He has emphasized within the company: “If something is worth doing, do it to the best of your ability.” This pursuit of excellence is deeply ingrained in Cambricon’s corporate culture. Unlike many founders with a technical background, Chen Tianshi places great importance on commercial implementation. He set a goal for Cambricon to “occupy 1 billion intelligent AI terminals and capture one-third of the Chinese AI cloud high-performance chip market within three years”, demonstrating his determination to convert technology into market value. The healthy competition between the brothers is also a source of innovation for Cambricon. Chen Yunjie recalls that they once had a dispute over the wording of a sentence in a paper, even coming to blows. However, this relationship, where “brothers can put aside all pretenses”, has instead facilitated rapid technological iteration.
08 Future Outlook: The Path to Domestic AI Chip Production
With the rapid development of the global AI industry, AI chips have become a strategic high ground. Chen Tianshi has pointed out: “Intelligent chips are the engine of the artificial intelligence industry and also the strategic high ground of the future intelligent era.” In the face of international competition, Cambricon bears the important mission of promoting the localization of AI chips. The company’s technological breakthroughs in emerging fields such as intelligent driving and edge computing provide new growth points for its future development. In 2023, Chen Tianshi was appointed as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, participating in the formulation of national science and technology policies, which provides him with a larger platform to promote the development of the domestic AI chip industry. As Cambricon continues to deepen its efforts in the AI chip field, Chen Tianshi envisions the company becoming a global leader in the intelligent chip sector. In Cambricon’s entrepreneurial journey, the plaque hanging in Chen Tianshi’s office that reads “Betting on Strength” is particularly thought-provoking. He explains: “Just competing is not enough; that is physical work, ‘betting’ is intellectual work.” Here, “betting” does not mean blind risk-taking, but rather precise judgment on major technological routes and the courage to make choices in the face of uncertainty. From a young prodigy to a scientist, and then to the head of a listed company, Chen Tianshi’s transformation is a microcosm of a new generation of Chinese technology entrepreneurs. In less than twenty years, he has turned a niche academic concept into a publicly listed company worth hundreds of billions, securing an important position for China in the global AI chip competition.
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