Where does Kai-Fu Lee work?

Kai-Fu Lee is Chairman at Sinovation Ventures and Founder at 01.

Where did Kai-Fu Lee go to school?

Kai-Fu Lee studied at Carnegie Mellon University (Ph.D., computer science); Columbia University (A.B., Computer Science).

What awards has Kai-Fu Lee received?

Lee was named to the Time 100 list of influential people in 2013. Lee was inducted as a Fellow of the IEEE in 2002. Lee was named Asia House Asian Business Leader in 2018. Lee received an honorary doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Lee received an honorary doctorate degree from City University of Hong Kong. Lee received the John Jay Award.

Kai-Fu Lee

Investor

Chairman at Sinovation Ventures · Founder at 01

Beijing, China

Photo: Rico Shen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons ↗

About

Kai-Fu Lee founded Sinovation Ventures in 2009 after leading Google China, and became one of the most influential voices bridging the US and Chinese technology worlds. He remains chairman of the firm while running 01.AI, the large-language-model company he founded in 2023, and has written widely read books on artificial intelligence including AI Superpowers and AI 2041.

Contact· self-published, not guessed

k•••@chuangxin.comreveal

Invests in

AI & Machine LearningEdTechHealthtechRoboticsSemiconductors

Beyond investing

Founded: Lee founded the venture capital firm Innovation Works, later renamed Sinovation Ventures, in 2009. Lee founded 01.AI, an AI startup focused on large language models for the Chinese market, in March 2023.
Education: Studied at Columbia University (BS, Computer Science, 1983) Studied at Carnegie Mellon University (PhD, Computer Science, 1988) Studied at Oak Ridge High School
Boards: Lee served as co-chair of the World Economic Forum's Global AI Council. Lee is a member of the Committee of 100.
Awards: Lee was named to the Time 100 list of influential people in 2013. Lee was inducted as a Fellow of the IEEE in 2002. Lee was named Asia House Asian Business Leader in 2018. Lee received an honorary doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Lee received an honorary doctorate degree from City University of Hong Kong. Lee received the John Jay Award. Lee received the Asia's Most Influential Taiwan award.
Family: Lee is the son of Li Tianmin, a legislator and historian from Sichuan, China.
More: Lee disclosed in 2013 that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma. Lee relinquished his U.S. citizenship in 2011, retaining only his Taiwanese nationality.

Mentioned above: the Carnegie Mellon University mafia → · the Columbia University mafia →

From published sources — common ground for a warm intro.

Founder at 01

Intro paths

→

In turn, Kai-Fu can intro founders to 01's investors below.

01's investors · 7

Index VenturesSan Francisco · $540K – $10.8M checks · since 2026 Korea Investment PartnersSeoul · $973K – $50M checks · since 2026 Lux CapitalNew York · $100K – $100M checks New Enterprise Associates (NEA)Menlo Park · $200K – $40M checks · since 2026 Quadrille CapitalParis · since 2026 Radical VenturesToronto · $1M – $25M checks · since 2026 Sinovation VenturesBeijing · $1M – $110M checks

Co-founders at 01

Guoyin WangFounder

Experience

01.AIChief Executive Officercurrent2023 — presentBeijing, China
Sinovation Ventures (创新工场)Chairman & CEOcurrent2009 — presentBeijing , Shanghai & Shenzhen, China
GoogleVice President2005 — 2009Beijing, China
MicrosoftCorporate Vice President (last job)1998 — 2005Beijing, China and Redmond, Washington
SGIVice President1996 — 1998Mountain View, California
AppleVice president (last job)1990 — 1996
Carnegie Mellon UniversityResearch Computer Scientist / Assistant Professor1988 — 1990Greater Pittsburgh Region

Skills & more

Mobile Internet46Leadership30Distributed Systems30Cloud Computing71Mobile Devices24Mobile Applications32Product Management27Start-ups99Venture Capital24Software Development30Entrepreneurship89Machine Learning25

+12 more

speech recognitionnatural language processingInternational RelationsBig DataStrategic PartnershipsNatural Language ProcessingSpeech RecognitionUser InterfaceE-commerceAlgorithmsSoftware EngineeringSocial Networking

Languages Chinese · English

From Kai-Fu's professional profile.

Books by Kai-Fu Lee

AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018

AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future

Currency, 2021

Podcasts & interviews

featuring Kai-Fu Lee

Sinovation Ventures' Kai-Fu Lee on Tech Innovation

Bloomberg Live

The Future of Artificial Intelligence w/ Sinovation Ventures CEO Kai-Fu Lee | Technovation 616

Metis Strategy

Here's how AI will change our world by 2041 | Kai-Fu Lee, Sinovation Ventures | AI FOR GOOD KEYNOTES

AI for Good

Dr Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures | Interview | VivaTech

Viva Technology

Dr Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures | Interview | VivaTech

Viva Technology

Dr Kai-Fu Lee, founder and CEO Sinovation Ventures

Asia House

2 more appearances

Colleagues at Sinovation Ventures

Anita Huang

CMO & Operating Partner at Sinovation Ventures

Bob Ren

Executive Director at Sinovation Ventures

Christine Lang

Partner at Sinovation Ventures

Clement Song

Venture Partner at Sinovation Ventures

Eagle Zhang

Partner at Sinovation Ventures

Hao Xiong

Partner at Sinovation Ventures

Hua Wang

Managing Partner at Sinovation Ventures

Jeremy Chau

Senior Vice President of AI Institute / Dean of Greater Bay Area Research Center at Sinovation Ventures

Frequently asked questions

Who is Kai-Fu Lee?: Kai-Fu Lee founded Sinovation Ventures in 2009 after leading Google China, and became one of the most influential voices bridging the US and Chinese technology worlds. He remains chairman of the firm while running 01.AI, the large-language-model company he founded in 2023, and has written widely read books on artificial intelligence including AI Superpowers and AI 2041.
Where does Kai-Fu Lee work?: Kai-Fu Lee is Chairman at Sinovation Ventures and Founder at 01.
What does Kai-Fu Lee invest in?: Kai-Fu Lee invests in AI & Machine Learning, EdTech, Healthtech, Robotics, Semiconductors.
Where did Kai-Fu Lee go to school?: Kai-Fu Lee studied at Carnegie Mellon University (Ph.D., computer science); Columbia University (A.B., Computer Science).
What awards has Kai-Fu Lee received?: Lee was named to the Time 100 list of influential people in 2013. Lee was inducted as a Fellow of the IEEE in 2002. Lee was named Asia House Asian Business Leader in 2018. Lee received an honorary doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Lee received an honorary doctorate degree from City University of Hong Kong. Lee received the John Jay Award.
What podcasts and interviews feature Kai-Fu Lee?: Tracked appearances include "Sinovation Ventures' Kai-Fu Lee on Tech Innovation", "The Future of Artificial Intelligence w/ Sinovation Ventures CEO Kai-Fu Lee | Technovation 616", "Here's how AI will change our world by 2041 | Kai-Fu Lee, Sinovation Ventures | AI FOR GOOD KEYNOTES", and 5 more.