PeopleofSuperintelligence

Lab leader

Liang Rubo

Also known as 梁汝波

Liang Rubo helped build ByteDance’s news and collaboration products before he became its chief executive. He studied at Nankai University with Zhang Yiming, co-founded ByteDance in 2012, and led product development and Lark. In 2024, he joined TIME’s AI leaders list as ByteDance’s Doubao chatbot became China’s most-downloaded AI chatbot on iOS; in 2025, he described the company’s response to large language models as slow. As of October 2026, he is ByteDance’s board chairman.

Now at
ByteDance

Timeline

  1. 2012

    Founding ByteDance

    He studies at Nankai University with Zhang Yiming, then co-founds ByteDance in 2012.

  2. 2016

    Leading product work and Lark

    In 2016, he takes responsibility for developing Lark, ByteDance’s collaboration platform; he previously leads product development for Toutiao and an advertising system.

  3. 2021

    Taking the CEO role

    In 2021, he becomes ByteDance’s chief executive, succeeding former roommate and co-founder Zhang Yiming after heading the company’s human-resources team.

  4. 2024

    A TIME100 AI selection

    In 2024, he joins TIME’s AI leaders list as ByteDance’s co-founder and CEO. By May 2024, Doubao ranks as China’s most-downloaded AI chatbot on Apple’s iOS, and Liang asks for greater urgency in ByteDance’s AI work.

  5. February 2025

    Discussing frontier models

    In February 2025, he describes ByteDance’s response to large language models as slow and traces its frontier-model discussions to the 2023 technical review.

  6. As of October 2026

    Chairman of ByteDance’s board

    As of October 2026, he is ByteDance’s chairman of the board.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Liang Rubo yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. HR Chief Liang Rubo to Lead ByteDance After Zhang Yiming Steps Down as CEO in 2021 yicaiglobal.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. ByteDance - Inspire Creativity, Enrich Life bytedance.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Liang Rubo - CEO at ByteDance restofworld.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Time Magazine’s AI List Recognises Chinese Tech Leaders tech360.tv. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. TikTok parent ByteDance now has China’s most popular AI chatbot businesstimes.com.sg. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. ByteDance’s Slow AI Response Puts Chinese Internet Giant at a Disadvantage, CEO Says yicaiglobal.com. Checked 15 October 2026.