Rubo Liang

Rubo Liang is a co-founder and the current CEO of ByteDance, the Chinese internet technology company best known for creating TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin.2

Career

Liang co-founded ByteDance in 2012 alongside Zhang Yiming, with whom he was a college roommate.24 Prior to ByteDance, Liang worked as:

• Technical Director at 99fang.com from November 2009 to March 2012
• Principal Engineer at Accelicon Inc. from July 2005 to November 20091

In 2021, Liang took over as CEO and chairman of ByteDance when Zhang Yiming stepped down from these roles.25

Education

Liang received his Bachelor of Science degree in Micro Electronics from Nankai University, studying there from 2001 to 2005.14

Leadership at ByteDance

Under Liang's leadership, ByteDance has made significant strides in artificial intelligence. In May 2024, the company released an AI model called Doubao, which has become China's most popular chatbot and is reportedly much more cost-effective to run than OpenAI's ChatGPT4.3

Liang has been described as having an intense focus on AI development. He reportedly went viral for criticizing colleagues who were slow to recognize AI's potential, stating at a company meeting in January 2024, "This is an era of great change," and urging staff to "escape the gravity of mediocrity".3

Personal

Liang maintains a low public profile, rarely speaking publicly or giving interviews.4 As of 2024, he resides in Singapore.4

In August 2024, Liang and Zhang Yiming jointly donated 200 million yuan (approximately US$28 million) to their alma mater, Nankai University, to support mathematical research and talent cultivation.4