PeopleofSuperintelligence

Lab leader

Yi Zeng

Also known as Zeng Yi, 曾毅

Yi Zeng works on brain-inspired AI and AI ethics, safety and governance. He began the Brain-inspired Cognitive Intelligence Engine project in 2013; a 2022 paper presents BrainCog for AI and brain simulation. At BAAI, he directed its Research Center on AI Ethics and Governance, led the Beijing AI Principles, and served on UNESCO's AI ethics expert group for its 2021 Recommendation. In 2023, TIME named him among its 100 Most Influential People in AI, and he joined the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Body on AI. As of October 2026, he is founding dean of Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance and a Wu Yu-Zhang Chair Professor at Renmin University's Gaoling School of AI.

Now at
Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance, Renmin University of China and Beijing Key Laboratory of Safe AI and Superalignment
Works
281
Citations
3,780
h-index
31

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.

Photo of Yi Zeng

Timeline

  1. 2008–2011

    An early project in web reasoning

    He worked on LarKC, a European-funded Seventh Framework project, on retrieval and reasoning over vague or incomplete queries. He also explored ways to bring web search and reasoning together.

  2. Since 2013

    Building a cognitive engine

    He became principal investigator of the Brain-inspired Cognitive Intelligence Engine in 2013. At the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, he taught Introduction to Brain-inspired Intelligence from 2017 to 2021. A 2022 paper presents BrainCog as a spiking neural network engine for brain-inspired AI and brain simulation.

  3. 2018–2020

    Directing AI ethics at BAAI

    During a 2018–2020 Berggruen China Center fellowship, he analyzed the global landscape of AI principles and how they could inform the life cycle of AI models and services. He also directed BAAI's Research Center on AI Ethics and Governance.

  4. May 2019

    Drafting Beijing's AI principles

    As lead drafter, he led development of the Beijing AI Principles, which BAAI released in May 2019.

  5. 2021

    Contributing to UNESCO's AI ethics

    As a member of UNESCO's Ad Hoc Expert Group on AI Ethics, he contributed to UNESCO's 2021 Recommendation on AI Ethics. He urged global collaboration on a common AI ethics framework.

  6. 2023

    A TIME100 AI selection

    TIME named him one of its 100 Most Influential People in AI in 2023.

  7. October 2023

    Joining the UN advisory body

    He joined the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Advisory Body on AI at its launch in October 2023. The group set out to develop global consensus on AI risks, support the Sustainable Development Goals and strengthen international cooperation on AI governance.

  8. As of October 2026

    Leading AI safety research

    He is the founding dean of Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance and a Wu Yu-Zhang Chair Professor at Renmin University's Gaoling School of AI. He directs the Beijing Key Laboratory of Safe AI and Superalignment.

Sources and credits

Photo: braincog.ai; Yi Zeng's Homepage; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: braincog.ai. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Yi Zeng braincog.ai. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. [2207.08533] BrainCog: A Spiking Neural Network based Brain-inspired Cognitive Intelligence Engine for Brain-inspired AI and Brain Simulation arxiv.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Berggruen Institute berggruen.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Beijing Artificial Intelligence Principles – International Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance ai-ethics-and-governance.institute. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Selected Publications by Yi Zeng braincog.ai. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Yi Zeng ai.ruc.edu.cn. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. UN Secretary-General launches AI Advisory Body on risks, opportunities, and international governance of artificial intelligence | United Nations in India india.un.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. Yi Zeng → UNIDIR unidir.org. Checked 14 October 2026.