Yan Junjie
Yan Junjie | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 闫俊杰 | |||||||||||
| Born | 1989 (age 36–37) | ||||||||||
| Education | |||||||||||
| Known for | Co-founder of MiniMax Group | ||||||||||
| Scientific career | |||||||||||
| Fields | Computer vision | ||||||||||
| Academic advisors |
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 闫俊杰 | ||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 閆俊傑 | ||||||||||
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Yan Junjie (Chinese: 闫俊杰; pinyin: Yán Jùnjié; born 1989) is a Chinese entrepreneur and businessman who is the co-founder of the artificial intelligence (AI) company, MiniMax Group.
Early life and education
Yan was born in 1989 in Henan province and grew up in a small county. He taught himself advanced calculus in high school after finding the standard curriculum too slow.[1][2]
He attended Southeast University graduating in 2006 with a degree in mathematics. He obtained a PhD from the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2015.[1][2] During his time as a doctoral student, Yan told friends his ambition was simply to become a Java developer at IBM targeting an annual salary of about 280,000 yuan ($40,000).[2]
Yan then became a postdoctoral researcher at Tsinghua University Computer Science Department with a focus on deep learning and computer vision.[1]
Career
In 2015, Yan began his career at SenseTime as an intern where he eventually rose to the position of vice president.[1][2][3]
In 2021, Yan left his job to found MiniMax Group. The name came from the Minimax algorithm.[3]
In January 2026, Yan met Premier Li Qiang becoming the second representative from a foundational AI model developer to meet with the national leader after Liang Wenfeng.[4]
Personal life
Yan is a big enthusiast of the video game Dota 2. He goes by the alias "IO", a pun on technical Input/output and a nod to the Dota wisp hero.[2]
Due to his heavy interest in gaming, Yan has developed a bond with Cai Haoyu, co-founder and CEO of miHoYo whose team of young engineers are obsessed with using AI to revolutionize video gaming. miHoYo was one of the early backers of Minimax Group.[2]
In 2019 he started tracking OpenAI after seeing its bots defeat the world best players in the game. This played a huge role in prompting a career move from computer vision to natural language processing.[2][3]
In January 2026, Yan became a billionaire when Minimax Group held its initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. His net worth was estimated to be $3.5 billion.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "李强座谈会上37岁闫俊杰参会发言 其公司几乎全员"95后" 市值一度突破900亿港元 - 国际 - 即时国际". 星洲网 Sin Chew Daily Malaysia Latest News and Headlines (in Chinese (China)). 20 January 2026. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Devoted Gamer's Fortune Soars to $3.5 Billion on MiniMax IPO". Bloomberg News. 9 January 2026.
- ^ a b c "MiniMax Founder Was Once Dismissed as a Fraud by Big Tech: Q&A". Bloomberg News. 9 January 2026.
- ^ Chow, Vincent (20 January 2026). "China signals global AI push as MiniMax CEO joins meeting with Premier Li Qiang". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 14 March 2026.