Moonshot’s Kimi K3 stuns AI world: why founder Yang Zhilin picked China

Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI released its latest model, Kimi K3, this week, with the company touting it as nearly on par with Claude Fable 5 and GPT 5.6 Sol. The release has set off a wider debate online about why Moonshot’s co-founder, Yang Zhilin, chose to build his company in China rather than the United States, where he spent years training.

Zhilin came to the US for his PhD at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was jointly advised by Russ Salakhutdinov and William Cohen. He completed the doctorate in just four years. During his studies, he also worked at Google Brain and Meta Platforms, two of the biggest names in American AI research.

The conversation around his career path picked up after Salakhutdinov, his former supervisor, posted a congratulatory message on X following the Kimi K3 release. ‘It feels like just yesterday Zhilin was graduating from my lab at CMU, jointly co-advised with William Cohen. Not only did he complete his Ph.D. in just four years, but he also made truly fundamental contributions to ML during his time at CMU,’ Salakhutdinov wrote, adding, ‘What a spectacular career! Congrats again Zhilin, and thank you and the entire Kimi team for everything you’re doing for the open-source community.’

After completing his PhD, Zhilin returned to China instead of taking up postdoctoral opportunities that were reportedly available to him at Stanford University or MIT. Apple had also tried to recruit him, according to reports, before he chose to focus on his own startup back home.

The Salakhutdinov post went viral, with social media users questioning why the US did not retain a researcher of Zhilin’s caliber. Indian-origin tech entrepreneur Ankit Gupta was among those who weighed in, pointing to America’s visa system as one of the reasons Moonshot ended up a Chinese company rather than an American one.

The debate comes as the US tightens rules for F-1 student visas, which are now time-bound to four years before holders must seek an extension through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Wikimedia Commons/by Dllu