Wang Xiaochuan

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Wang Xiaochuan
王小川
Born (1978-10-03) October 3, 1978 (age 45)
OccupationCEO of Sogou Inc.

Wang Xiaochuan (Chinese: 王小川; pinyin: Wáng Xiǎochuān; born October 3, 1978[1]) is a Chinese Internet entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Sogou Inc., (Chinese: 搜狗) China's No.2 Internet search engine,[2] and a leading Artificial Intelligence company in China.During his tenure as CEO of Sogou, a listed company, Wang led the team to develop China's dominated intelligent Chinese input method. On October 15, 2021,[3] following the completion of a merger with Tencent, Dr. Wang stepped down as CEO of Sogou and announced that he would "enter the healthcare industry for the coming 20 years, after having spent the past 21 years in the internet industry".[4]

Wang won the Yilida Youth Invention Award  (an award initiated by Nobel Laureate Chen Ning Yang) at the age of 16 and was a recipient of the gold medal at the 8th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).[1] At 27, Wang became Chief Technology Officer of Sohu Inc.[5] He graduated from Tsinghua University with a Ph.D. in Computer Science and has served as the co-chair of the Tiangong Institute for Intelligent Computing of Tsinghua University.[6]

Early life and education[edit]

Wang was born in 1978 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Wang began using computers and writing software when he was seven. Since elementary school, Wang received prizes in programming contests aimed at middle school students.[7]

In 1990, Wang ranked NO.1 in the city-wide admission exam to ChengduNo.7 High School(middle school).[8]

In 1993, Wang was admitted to Chengdu No.7 High School (high school) after winning the first prize in the National Mathematics Competition.[8]

In 1994, Wang completed all proof of elementary geometry proposition for the first time, using a microcomputer with Wu's elimination method. For this work, he won the Yilida Youth Invention Award (an award initiated by Nobel Laureate Chen Ning Yang).[7] In 1994, when Vice Premier Li Lanqing visited Chengdu Seventh Middle School, he saw Wang's computer operation performance.[9]

In 1996, he won a gold medal at the 8th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)and was admitted to Tsinghua University(known as the "Harvard of China ")[10][7]

Wang studied at Tsinghua University and earned Bachelor of Science and master's degrees in computer science and an EMBA degree there.[7] Wang also earned his Doctorate in Computer Science and Technology from Tsinghua University.[11]

Internet experience[edit]

Wang entered China's Internet startup sector while still an undergraduate student. In 1999, he participated in the creation of the online alumni directory of ChinaRen.com as a part-time technical manager. His work continued after ChinaRen,[12] In 2003, after completing his postgraduate studies at Tsinghua University, Wang joined Sohu after ChinaRen was acquired by Sohu, Wang's talent attracted the attention of Charles Zhang, the founder and CEO of Sohu, Wang rose from senior technical manager to senior technical director, deputy president, senior vice-president, and CTO. At 27, Wang became the youngest Vice President of this company. Wang was appointed as the CTO of Sohu at the age of 31.[7]

Founding of Sogou and career[edit]

In 2003, Wang established Sohu's R&D Center, Wang recruited students in the computer department of Tsinghua University, international gold medals in the computer Olympic Games, top winners in the college entrance examination to form a dream team, Wang launched Sogou Search in 2004. In 2006, he invented the Sogou intelligent Input Method,[13] which later became China's most popular input method, anchoring Sogou as China's No.2 Internet property by user numbers.[14] In 2008, Wang proposed the "Input-Browser-Search" internet business model, namely the "three-stage rocket model".[9] In 2010, after facilitating the spin-off of Sogou from Sohu,[15] Wang started serving as the CEO of Sogou, opening a new chapter for the company.[16]

Two months after Wang took office in 2010, Alibaba invested $15 million in exchange for 10% of Sogou's shares. In 2013, Wang persuaded Tencent to invest $448 million in Sogou and merged Tencent's search Department into Sogou, thereby changing the Internet pattern, which was also Wang's important work in that year. "[17]

On November 9, 2017, under the leadership of Wang, Sogou was listed on NYSE as ticker "SOGO", at a valuation of $5 billion.[18]

Research collaboration[edit]

On March 16, 2007, Wang led Sogou and the Department of computer science and technology of Tsinghua University to establish Sogou Tsinghua joint laboratory. In 2016, Wang initiated the donation of 180 million RMB from Sogou to Tsinghua to establish the Tiangong Institute for Intelligent Computing of Tsinghua University. Wang was named co-chair of the institute. Wang also led Sogou to establish SogouT-16, a free-of-charge public Chinese Web collection, which has provided invaluable resources for further novel academic research in computer science.[19]

Investment experience[edit]

On October 15, 2021, Wang resigned as CEO of Sogou and announced that he would open a new chapter in the medical field. In recent years,[20] Dr. Wang has invested in the field of medical technology, including Dr. Chunyu,[21] a listed company of telemedicine platform, a Chinese medicine consulting service Xiaolu traditional Chinese medicine, Airdoc Technology, the first "AI medical stock" listed in Hong Kong (airdoc 02251.hk), and DeepCare,[22] an AI oral imaging company, Dr. Wang wrote, "my curiosity about life science has been lingering in my mind for the past 20 years. In the next 20 years, if I can make my own contributions to the development of health care and life science, and to the improvement of public health, I will live a fuller life".[23]

Honors[edit]

In 1996, Wang won a gold medal at the Eighth International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). In 2014, he was the winner of the Emerging Entrepreneur award of Ernst & Young China Entrepreneur of the Year.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b 冰洁, 孙 (2018-11-02). "【奋斗的中国人】王小川:"十四年磨一剑" 开创人工智能新时代".
  2. ^ "中国搜索市场发展可能比你想象的更稳健". sohu.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  3. ^ 绍功, 杨 (2018-03-19). "王小川:与改革开放同行,用互联网连接世界".
  4. ^ 慧, 王 (2021-10-15). "搜狗正式并入腾讯,王小川卸任CEO:未来或涉足生命科学和医学领域".
  5. ^ 阳, 杨 (2017-11-10). "搜狗14年 王小川的"成人礼"".
  6. ^ "搜狗CEO王小川回计算机系作学术报告". 2018-07-18.
  7. ^ a b c d e ""改革开放同龄人" 王小川:享受变革 创造新的时代" (PDF). 2018-07-12.
  8. ^ a b 王, 鑫 (2014-04-30). "搜狗CEO王小川:未来两三年回乡建立"根据地"".
  9. ^ a b 易佳, 欧阳 (2019-07-12). "王小川的互联网江湖:从输入法到AI背后的故事".
  10. ^ "The Final Results of IOI'96". ioinformatics.org. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  11. ^ 张, 爽 (2018-11-10). "王小川,一个被全社会催婚的CEO:我的青春喂了"狗",搜狗的"狗"".
  12. ^ "Company Overview of Sohu.com Inc". investors.sohu.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  13. ^ 倩文, 费 (2017-08-02). "王小川和搜狗13年的成长史".
  14. ^ "China's Sogou Targets $5 Billion IPO to Chase Rival Baidu". bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  15. ^ "Alibaba Invests USD15 Million For 10% Stake In Chinese Search Engine". chinatechnews.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  16. ^ "China's Baidu under pressure as third- and fourth-placed search rivals team up in $448m merger". thenextweb.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  17. ^ 恺宁, 杨 (2021-09-24). "搜狗正式并入腾讯,8年前腾讯入股时王小川为何"发抖"?丨热点".
  18. ^ 婷, 温 (2017-11-10). "搜狗纽交所敲钟 市值突破50亿美元".
  19. ^ 晓宁, 马 (2016-04-22). "搜狗向清华大学捐赠1.8亿 成立智能计算研究院".
  20. ^ "搜狗正式并入腾讯,王小川卸任CEO或从事生命科学和医学领域". 2021-10-15.
  21. ^ 辰, 梁 (2021-10-19). "搜狗突袭入股春雨医生 CEO王小川进入董事会".
  22. ^ 智高, 鲁 (2021-10-19). "正式告别搜狗4天后,王小川投了一家医疗健康公司".
  23. ^ 鹏, 赵 (2022-10-15). "搜狗并入腾讯,王小川发内部信称卸任CEO".
  24. ^ "EY China 2014 Emerging Entrepreneur Category Winner". EY.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.