PeopleofSuperintelligence

Lab, China

Microsoft Research Asia

Part of Microsoft Research.

Statistics

People here now
13
People ever
89
Citations of current people
183,368
Median h-index of current people
64

Our research follows 7,547 researchers, builders, lab leaders and public voices through cited biographies. Missing career records can lower counts. Outdated roles can overstate current counts and change ranks. Citation figures count 7 of the 13 people here now. People whose OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mixed are left out. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. Career and profile data as of 22 October 2026.

We estimate that 89 people shaping AI have worked or studied at Microsoft Research Asia, including 13 (15%) here now and 76 with former affiliations. That total covers 88 people with work roles and 1 recorded only as a student (4 both studied and worked here). As part of Microsoft Research, Microsoft Research Asia accounts for 89 of its 353 all-time people (25%) and 13 of its 84 current people (15%). Among 628 labs, the group ranks 11th on current people and 10th on all-time people. Computer vision leads 10 areas of expertise (45 of 89 people with profile topics), and researchers make up 9 of the 13 people here now (69%). In dated work stints through 2025, active headcount peaked at 38 people in 2012 and stood at 12 in 2025.

Computer vision leads 10 areas of expertise with 45 of 89 people (51%), ahead of language and speech (30).One dot per person who has worked or studied at Microsoft Research Asia (89 with profile topics), grouped by primary area of expertise. Here now (13)Formerly here (76)

A cluster map with one dot per person in 10 groups. The largest areas are Computer vision (45), Language and speech (30) and Systems, hardware and security (5). The data table lists the counts.

Source: People of Superintelligence career records and profile topics, as of 22 October 2026.

Data table
AreaHere nowFormerly hereAll
Computer vision34245
Language and speech62430
Systems, hardware and security235
Theory, statistics and optimization022
Knowledge, logic and reasoning022
Reinforcement learning, agents and planning011
Safety, alignment and evaluation101
Policy, ethics and society011
Human-computer interaction101
Business, products and public voice011
Researchers make up 9 of the 13 people here now (69%), and “language models” leads profile topics (5).Roles, current affiliations, profile topics, and recorded birth countries (2 known) and birth years (1 known) for the 13 people here now.

A summary of current people at Microsoft Research Asia. It shows roles, affiliations, profile topics and birth countries known for 2 people. The median birth year uses 1 person.

Role categories

  • Research9
  • Lab leaders4

Current affiliations

  • Microsoft Research Asia13

Top profile topics

  • language models5
  • computer vision3
  • distributed systems2
  • multimodal models2
  • natural language processing2

Birth countries

Known for 2 of 13 people now.

  • China2

Median birth year

1966 (1 person)

Source: People of Superintelligence profiles, current career records and recorded birthplaces, as of 22 October 2026.

Data table
MeasureValuePeople
RoleResearch9
RoleLab leaders4
Current affiliationMicrosoft Research Asia13
Profile topiclanguage models5
Profile topiccomputer vision3
Profile topicdistributed systems2
Profile topicmultimodal models2
Profile topicnatural language processing2
Birth countryChina2
Birth country coverage2 of 13 people now2
Median birth year19661
Leading profile topics shifted from “computer vision” among 2010s joiners (16 of 33) to “language models” in the 2020s (5 of 8).Profile topics by decade of first recorded work stint. Topics describe the profiles today and can include later work.

A table of repeated profile topics for qualifying joiner groups from the 1990s through the 2020s.

1990s

5 people joined

  • language models2
  • machine translation2
  • natural language processing2

2000s

35 people joined

  • computer vision19
  • machine learning6
  • language models4
  • ai for science3
  • deep learning3

2010s

33 people joined

  • computer vision16
  • language models10
  • natural language processing4
  • deep learning3
  • machine learning3

2020s

8 people joined

  • language models5
  • computer vision2
  • image generation2
  • multimodal models2
  • reinforcement learning2

Source: People of Superintelligence career stints and profile tags, as of 22 October 2026.

Data table
First stint decadeJoinersTop profile topics
1990s5language models (2); machine translation (2); natural language processing (2)
2000s35computer vision (19); machine learning (6); language models (4); ai for science (3); deep learning (3)
2010s33computer vision (16); language models (10); natural language processing (4); deep learning (3); machine learning (3)
2020s8language models (5); computer vision (2); image generation (2); multimodal models (2); reinforcement learning (2)

The annual headcount series runs through 2025 (12 active work stints); the 13 people here now also include 1 whose current role has no recorded start year. Today, 72 of the 76 people formerly at Microsoft Research Asia have a recorded current affiliation elsewhere (41 at companies, 30 at universities and 1 at a lab, nonprofit or government body).

Active work stints peaked at 38 people in 2012 and stood at 12 in 2025.Annual estimates from 1999 through 2025. Each person counts once per year with a dated work stint; degrees and undated roles are excluded.

A stacked column chart of our yearly estimates at Microsoft Research Asia from 1999 to 2025. Each person counts once in each year with an active work stint.

Source: People of Superintelligence dated career stints, as of 22 October 2026.

Data table
YearOtherPeople
199955
200099
20011414
20021515
20031515
20041818
20052020
20061717
20072323
20082222
20092727
20102929
20113333
20123838
20133333
20142828
20152828
20163131
20172727
20183030
20192929
20203131
20213131
20222828
20232222
20241919
20251212
DeepSeek and Microsoft employ the most people formerly at Microsoft Research Asia today, with 6 each across 72 people with a known current role.Current employers of people who formerly worked or studied at Microsoft Research Asia (72 of 76 former people have a recorded current role). universitiescompaniesinstitutes and labs

A ranked bar chart of the 6 organizations that currently employ the most people formerly at Microsoft Research Asia, led by DeepSeek (6) and Microsoft (6).

Source: People of Superintelligence current and former career records, as of 22 October 2026.

Data table
Current organizationFormer people here nowShare of former people with a current role
DeepSeek68.3%
Microsoft68.3%
Tsinghua University56.9%
Google45.6%
Alibaba34.2%
Peking University34.2%

Compared with peer labs, Microsoft Research Asia ranks higher on all-time headcount (10th of 628) than on current headcount (11th); 76 of its 89 all-time people are former affiliations. Across work histories (excluding degrees), 87 of the 88 people who have worked at Microsoft Research Asia (99%) also held a work role at another organization, connecting Microsoft Research Asia to 276 peer institutions. Among the 7 current people with confident OpenAlex author records, combined citations reach 183,368 and the median h-index is 64 (combined h-index 409, 8th among 152 counted labs); Stephen Lin leads by citations (56,392) and Xing Xie leads by h-index (97).

Among 628 labs, Microsoft Research Asia ranks 11th on current people (13) and 10th on all-time people (89).Standing across all organizations and organizations of the same type on current people, all-time people and combined h-index of current people. Ties share a rank.

A table compares Microsoft Research Asia with 8827 organizations and 628 organizations of the same type for current people, people ever and combined h-index where available.

People now

13 people

tied for 99th of 8,827 organizations11th of 628 labs

People ever

89 people

67th of 8,827 organizations10th of 628 labs

Combined h-index of people now

409 across 7 people

103rd of 1,834 organizations8th of 152 labs

Source: People of Superintelligence organization membership and confident OpenAlex statistics, as of 22 October 2026.

Data table
MeasureValueAll organizationsSame type
People now13tied for 99th of 8,82711th of 628
People ever8967th of 8,82710th of 628
Combined h-index of people now409 (7 people)103rd of 1,8348th of 152
Microsoft shares the largest career overlap with Microsoft Research Asia (41 people), ahead of Tsinghua University (22).Organizations where people with work records at Microsoft Research Asia also worked at any time in their careers (87 people across 276 organizations; degrees excluded).

A ranked chart shows 5 organizations with people who also have work records at Microsoft Research Asia. Each count is a distinct person with work stints at both organizations.

Source: People of Superintelligence affiliations and work stints, as of 22 October 2026.

Data table
OrganizationShared people
Microsoft41
Tsinghua University22
Chinese Academy of Sciences13
DeepSeek10
University of Science and Technology of China10
The 5 most cited current people—led by Stephen Lin (56,392 citations)—account for 97.4% of 183,368 recorded citations.Share of 183,368 total citations across 7 of 13 current people with confident OpenAlex author records (median h-index 64).

A stacked bar shows that the 5 most cited current people account for 97.4% of 183,368 recorded citations. The data table links to their profiles.

Source: People of Superintelligence confident OpenAlex citation statistics, as of 22 October 2026.

Data table
PersonCitationsShare
Stephen Lin56,39230.8%
Xing Xie47,22125.8%
Harry Shum36,18419.7%
Furu Wei33,32918.2%
Chong Luo5,4983.0%
Everyone else4,7442.6%
All counted current people183,368100%

People here now

The 13 people with a current role at Microsoft Research Asia include 9 researchers and 4 lab leaders. Earlier in their careers, 12 of the 13 held a work role at another organization, most often at Microsoft (10). Outside degrees among current people come most often from Harbin Institute of Technology (3). 2 current people also hold a concurrent affiliation outside Microsoft Research Asia.

People with former affiliations

We record 76 people with former affiliations at Microsoft Research Asia: 75 who held work roles and 1 recorded as a student only. 72 of the 76 have a recorded current role at another organization, led by DeepSeek (6) and Microsoft (6). Across the 45 former people with confident OpenAlex records, combined career citations total 2,280,742 (median h-index 61).