The founder of SenseTime, a prominent Chinese AI firm, and an influential computer scientist have both unexpectedly passed away, according to a statement released by the company on Saturday.
‘It is with an extremely heavy heart that we announce to everyone the sorrowful news: Our beloved founder… Tang Xiao’ou, due to illness that could not be treated, left us forever at 23:45 on December 15, 2023,’ SenseTime said in an online post.
In his mid-fifties, Tang, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, founded SenseTime in 2014.
The exact cause of death for the respected computer scientist was not mentioned.
SenseTime was blacklisted in 2019 by the US trade authorities, accused of being linked to China’s “military-industrial complex” for its technology’s role in mass surveillance in Xinjiang.
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In December 2021, the firm’s initial public offering in Hong Kong was delayed after it came under new restrictions by the US for related accusations, although it successfully listed on the exchange before the year ended.
SenseTime hailed Tang in its Saturday statement as “an outstanding representative in (China’s) AI field”, calling him “knowledgeable, rigorous in scholarship, truth-seeking and pragmatic”.
‘The company mission he formulated, to ‘insist on originality and let AI lead human progress’ will inspire all SenseTime people,’ the firm said.
With a wealth of experience in American academia, Tang earned a PhD from MIT in 1996 after completing an MSc at the University of Rochester in 1991.