PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Nick Zhang

Also known as 张晓东, 尼克

Nick Zhang writes about AI history and studies the theory of computation. He graduated from Tianjin University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, then invested in AI and Internet startups before founding Wuzhen Institute. In 1992, he authored a paper on neural-network learning; in 2018, he won the Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award and spoke about China's AI race and talent. He gave an AI history keynote in 2019 and published a paper on the Church–Turing thesis in 2026. As of October 2026, he chairs Wuzhen Institute.

Now at
Wuzhen Institute
Born
1963
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1985–1992

    Degrees from three institutions

    He graduates from Tianjin University in 1985, the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1988, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1992.

  2. 1992

    A neural-network learning paper

    In 1992, he authors “Complexity of Neural Network Learning in the Real Number Model” for the Workshop on Physics and Computation.

  3. 1990s–2016

    AI investment and Wuzhen Institute

    His early work includes Harvard and HP, and he moves to Silicon Valley in the mid-1990s. In 2010, he invests in and helps Internet and AI startups. In 2016, he founds Wuzhen Institute in Wuzhen, near Shanghai.

  4. 2018

    A Wu Wenjun AI award

    He wins the Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award in 2018.

  5. 2018

    China's AI race and talent

    At a June 2018 CNAS event, he joins a discussion of China's AI race as Wuzhen Institute CEO. In a January 2018 article on AI hiring, he calls the competition for talent a “talent war” as the institute's president.

  6. 2019

    AI history keynote

    At the 2019 Embedded AI Summit, he gives the keynote “Artificial Intelligence: Looking to the Future from the Past” as Wuzhen Institute founder and chairman and author of A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence.

  7. 2026

    A paper on computation

    In 2026, he publishes “What Is Computation? And Why Turing?” in the Journal of Computer Science and Technology. The paper traces the formation of the Church–Turing thesis and examines philosophical and historical questions about computation.

  8. As of October 2026

    Chair of Wuzhen Institute

    As of October 2026, he chairs Wuzhen Institute.

Career

  1. Since 2016Wuzhen InstituteFounder, CEO and president

Education

  1. 1992University of Massachusetts Amherst
  2. 1988Chinese Academy of Sciences
  3. 1985Tianjin University

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Harvard University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Harvard University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes Harvard University. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.
  4. 44% of AI career moves go from one university to anotherIncludes Harvard University. We estimate how 26,439 AI career moves link universities, companies, labs, nonprofits and government research centers, with decade counts, net flows and the top paths.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Nick Zhang en.wikipedia.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. China and the Race for Artificial Intelligence cnas.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. China enters the battle for AI talent equity-ed.net. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. 嵌入式智能国际大会 // Embedded AI Summit embedded-ai.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. What Is Computation? And Why Turing? sciopen.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Nick Zhang - Executive Advisor at TigerGraph | The Org theorg.com. Checked 21 October 2026.