Chinese AI start-up Baichuan loses co-founder in latest industry shake-up

The departure of Hong Tao, who was pivotal to early monetisation efforts, comes after high-level departures at rival start-ups such as 01.AI and Moonshot AI

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China’s artificial intelligence start-ups have gone through some high-level changes this year as the domestic market deals with saturation and increased competition. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:00pm, 10 Dec 2024

A co-founder of the artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Baichuan, one of China’s four so-called AI tigers, has left the company, marking the exit of a high-profile executive who was pivotal to monetisation efforts at the company, as domestic competition intensifies.

Hong Tao, who headed Baichuan’s monetisation team, left the company for “personal reasons”, the Beijing-based start-up said in a statement on Tuesday. Baichuan said it was “grateful for his dedication and contributions”, which include building the monetisation team in the early days of its founding last year, paving the way for the company’s rapid development.

The move was first reported by Chinese technology news outlet 36Kr.

Hong’s departure is the latest in a series of high-level changes across Chinese AI companies that are jostling for market share in an increasingly crowded field. As the market has become saturated, a price war has emerged among AI service providers.

Hong Tao, Baichuan’s former head of monetisation, has stepped down for “personal reasons”. Photo: QQ.com

In August, 01.AI, a start-up founded by venture capitalist and former Google China president Lee Kai-fu, lost its vice-president Huang Wenhao to ByteDance.