A star Chinese researcher laid off by Facebook owner Meta Platforms has co-founded a start-up focused on self-improving artificial intelligence systems, joining a wave of US and Chinese firms developing models capable of autonomously refining their own code and reasoning.Tian Yuandong, former research scientist director at Meta’s FAIR (Fundamental AI Research) team, launched Recursive Superintelligence alongside seven other co-founders. The company said on Wednesday it had raised more than US$650 million at a US$4.65 billion valuation.The round was led by venture capital firms GV and Greycroft, with “major participation” from US chipmaking giants Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, the start-up said.
SRCSouth China Morning Post
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Right
WORDS101
ENT10
THU · 2026-05-14 · 13:30 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0514-76249
NSR-2026-0514-76249News Report·EN·Technology
Ex-Meta Chinese star researcher joins race for self-improving AI with US$4.6b start-up
Former Meta Platforms research director Tian Yuandong has co-founded Recursive Superintelligence, a new startup aiming to develop self-improving artificial intelligence systems. The company announced on Wednesday that it has secured over $650 million in funding at a $4.65 billion valuation.
Vincent ChowSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-05-14 · 13:30 GMTLean · Center-RightRead · 1 min
South China Morning PostFIG 01
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Briefing Summary
AI-generatedNEWSAR · AI
Former Meta Platforms research director Tian Yuandong has co-founded Recursive Superintelligence, a new startup aiming to develop self-improving artificial intelligence systems. The company announced on Wednesday that it has secured over $650 million in funding at a $4.65 billion valuation. This significant investment was led by venture capital firms GV and Greycroft, with substantial contributions from major US chipmakers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. Recursive Superintelligence joins a growing field of companies in both the US and China working on AI models that can autonomously enhance their own code and reasoning capabilities. The startup's focus on self-improving AI signifies a new frontier in artificial intelligence development.
Confidence 0.85Sources 2Claims 4Entities 10
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The funding round was led by GV and Greycroft, with participation from Nvidia and AMD.
factualRecursive Superintelligence
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The startup was valued at US$4.65 billion.
statisticRecursive Superintelligence
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The startup, Recursive Superintelligence, has raised over US$650 million.
statisticRecursive Superintelligence
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A former Meta researcher has co-founded a startup focused on self-improving AI.
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10 termsself-improving ai
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artificial intelligence
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recursive superintelligence
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ai research
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meta platforms
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advanced micro devices
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nvidia
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ai models
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