Kai-Fu Lee: Former President of Google China, TIME 100 Most Influential Person

Kai-Fu Lee is the Chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures and the bestselling author of AI Superpowers. He previously served as the President of Google China and held key leadership roles in AI research and product development at Microsoft, SGI, and Apple.

He is currently the Co-Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Council for the World Economic Forum. Dr. Lee earned his Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University. He has been recognized as a global leader in science and technology, named to the TIME 100 list of most influential people and honored as one of Wired’s 25 Icons.

Born on December 3, 1961, in Taipei, Taiwan, Dr. Lee moved to the United States in 1972. He graduated from Columbia University in 1983 with a degree in Computer Science and received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon in 1988. After serving as an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon for two years, he joined Apple in 1990 as a principal scientist.
In 1996, he moved to Silicon Graphics (SGI), where he served as Vice President of the Web Products Division and President of the Multimedia Software and Cosmo Software divisions. Two years later, he joined Microsoft, where he played a pivotal role in establishing Microsoft Research China (MSR China) in Beijing. This lab later became Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA), renowned as one of the world's premier computer science research facilities. In 2000, he returned to the U.S. to serve as Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Interactive Services Division.

In 2005, Dr. Lee joined Google to oversee the establishment of Google China, serving as Vice President of Google and President of Google Greater China. During his tenure, he was responsible for launching and operating the google.cn website and building a world-class research organization composed of top scientists and engineers. In September 2009, he left Google to embark on an entrepreneurial journey, launching Sinovation Ventures, a venture capital firm, with an initial capital of $115 million. The following year, he launched two major Android-based projects for the Chinese market: Tapas (a smartphone OS) and Wandoujia (SnapPea) (a desktop mobile management app). By 2016, Sinovation Ventures’ fund exceeded $1 billion. As of late 2018, its assets under management (AUM) surpassed $2 billion, with a portfolio of over 300 investment projects in China.