Yao Song starts a new business again
In November 2025, in Shenzhen, at the IDEA Research Institute 2025 Conference, I was a bit surprised when Shen Xiangyang introduced Yao Song onto the stage as "the young director of the National Advanced Technology Application Promotion Center".
"Is it the Yao Song who previously started a business in AI chips?" I asked an IDEA staff member for confirmation and received an affirmative reply.
Eight years have passed since I first met Yao Song.
In 2017, Yao Song, the founder of Cambricon Technologies at that time, held a product launch in Beijing's Langyuan. Someone in the media audience below said, "This CEO was born in 1992." People couldn't help but whisper to each other - compared to AI chips, everyone was more interested in Yao Song, who was 25 years old at the time and standing on the stage.
Of course, at that time, Yao Song couldn't single - handedly support an AI company. He had a group of partners from Tsinghua University, especially his then - teacher, Wang Yu, who is now the director of the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua University. (Teacher Wang Yu is also the initiator of another star AI computing power company, "Wuwen Xinqiong".)
Yao Song's first entrepreneurial venture ended quickly with a certain degree of glory. In mid - 2018, Xilinx, a global chip giant, announced the acquisition of Cambricon Technologies. According to media reports, the acquisition amount was 300 million US dollars. According to Yao Song himself, "it was a bit more than that".
In terms of the label of "becoming famous at a young age", Yao Song, born in 1992, definitely qualified at that time.
In 2018, Zhang Xuhao, born in 1985, sold Ele.me to Alibaba; Yin Qi, the founder of Megvii Technology, born in 1989, was still discussing whether to take the company to the newly established Science and Technology Innovation Board; Qi Junyuan, born in 1990, finally decided to sell the founded Teambiton to Alibaba at the end of the year.
In the eight years, Yao Song has been busy. He founded a fund called "SEE Fund" and invested in a number of star unicorns such as Galaxy Universal and Qiongche Intelligence. He also participated in the establishment of a private rocket company.
In July 2025, Yao Song came from Beijing to Shenzhen and joined the National Advanced Technology Application Promotion Center (Shenzhen). According to the official introduction, the "National Advanced Center" was established under the guidance of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Shenzhen Municipal Government and is under the jurisdiction of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Bureau - it's an orthodox in - system job.
I'm surprised by Yao Song's choice. He became famous early, successfully exited his entrepreneurial venture, and has done well in investment. In his thirties, at the peak of his energy and resources, why did Yao Song come to Shenzhen and "landed" in the in - system?
The picture is provided by the interviewee.
1. "Director Yao"
According to the in - system way of addressing, Yao Song is now "Director Yao". I asked him if he was used to this title. He said cheerfully that either Director or Teacher would do.
Director Yao's new job is quite miscellaneous. On the introduction brochure of the National Advanced Center, there is a one - sentence positioning: "Connect technologies with scenarios and find technologies for scenarios."
"Is it a bit like an FA?" I asked the staff member beside Yao Song. The other person smiled and said: "We also do that. Besides helping to find funds, we also help to find policies and implementation scenarios. ."
As an intermediary, on one end, the National Advanced Center has innovative technologies incubated by universities and institutions such as the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Southern University of Science and Technology, and IDEA. On the other end, there are large state - owned enterprises, traditional enterprises, etc. as the demand side.
During the interview, Yao Song mentioned the word "service" several times. To explain it in more detail, this service means finding funds, finding customers, and finding the government. In the service process, Yao Song needs to be a "mentor" first and then a "translator".
Everything is difficult at the beginning. For start - up companies in their infancy, Yao Song acts as an entrepreneurial mentor to help them start their projects.
Financing is the most basic. A colleague at the National Advanced Center told me that in order to help the incubated start - up projects with financing, "Director Yao and the team held nearly 200 phone conferences in total", and finally helped the project complete two rounds of financing within six months.
And being a "translator" is another strength of Yao Song. Due to his previous entrepreneurial and investment experiences, he is good at communicating in multiple contexts. "Today, I can read papers, communicate with professors and students, and also talk to investors, entrepreneurs, and large enterprises."
The ultimate effect is to ensure the implementation of the'market - oriented thinking' at the National Advanced Center.
On the contrary, there are many innovation centers under domestic units. The common approach is to force enterprises and institutions within their jurisdiction to cooperate with designated 'innovation companies' through administrative orders.
The consequence of doing so is that innovation cannot be truly tested by the market and instead becomes an ornament for political achievements.
This is the last result Yao Song wants to see. He hopes that the innovative projects he incubates can truly produce good product technologies and finally get orders based on their strength, rather than becoming a cooperation between the two parties forced by an official letter.
"As the director, I ensure the occurrence of this ('market - orientation') every day." Yao Song told me.
2. This Stop, the Next Stop
After talking about what "Director Yao" is doing, I also want to talk to "Entrepreneur Yao" about why he came to Shenzhen.
For Yao Song, there are two purposes for moving to Shenzhen. The first one is clear, which is to "get closer".
"When it comes to going global, products, and the supply chain, the atmosphere in Shenzhen is much stronger than in other cities." Yao Song told me. He gave an example: "A former classmate of mine is doing voice - recording cards and meeting minutes in Shenzhen. His company's revenue exceeded 100 million in the first year. It's amazing, right?"
(Note from "The Emergence of Intelligence": Here it refers to Xu Gao, who was formerly the investment director of Fanchuang Capital and later started a business in the AI voice - recording card Plaud.)
Coming to Shenzhen to observe technology from the perspective of application products, we also talked about DJI, Insta360, and Tuozhu... It seems that Yao Song wants to put himself in the entrepreneurial testing ground and get closer to them.
I asked Yao Song if he was interested in hardware. He said, No, I'm interested in product requirements.
Go to the right place and meet the right people. Yao Song has been doing this since early on.
In his sophomore year at Tsinghua University, Yao Song participated in the Spark Program. He had to submit a research topic and results within a year, and only about 50 people could be selected. During this period, Tsinghua also organized various seminars for participants to communicate and learn.
"I made a lot of friends. Even if we only talk once every few years, it still feels kind." Yao Song summarized his experience ten years ago.
In the Spark Program, Yao Song met a group of talented teenagers at an early stage, including Yang Zhilin (founder of Yuezhi Anmian), Wang He (founder of Galaxy Universal), and Han Song, his partner in the later - founded Cambricon Technologies.
The second purpose for Yao Song to come to Shenzhen is related to "regret".
"I'm a bit weak in the product side." Yao Song said frankly. He analyzed his experiences. Whether it was chips or rockets, they all belonged to fields with very clear product forms and customer groups. But what about his own product - definition ability and the ability to do overseas markets?
"Almost none." He said.
In his work at the National Advanced Center, Yao Song helps entrepreneurs find scenarios and directions every day. This is what he lacks and what he needs.
He also had his own "Aha moment".
In the process of polishing products with a "post - 2000s" robot start - up team, Yao Song and they "grinded out" an understanding. If it's impossible for robots to enter households in the short term, then downgrade the space/scenario. For example, first separate the "restroom" and then adapt it to the restrooms in shopping malls and factories to complete the delivery of a certain scenario.
Similarly, separate the "living room" and "bedroom" one by one. There can also be commercial revenues in the process, and a seemingly distant "general household embodied intelligence" is split into phased goals to be achieved in the next two, four, and ten years.
"This methodology of finding scenarios will inspire me." Yao Song told me. This "former entrepreneur", born in 1992, who sold his company for 300 million US dollars and is also the founding partner of a fund, is still constantly examining himself.
He is preparing and biding his time.