AI‑driven startups are now reshaping China’s wealth rankings. The latest Hurun list shows several founders of artificial‑intelligence companies among the country’s ten richest people.

Liang Wenfeng, 41, founder of DeepSeek, entered the 2026 Hurun top‑10 richest list with an estimated $42 billion fortune, becoming the richest newcomer. Hurun Research Institute said his rapid rise reflects the growing value of his AI startup.

DeepSeek’s valuation jumped to more than $50 billion after the company changed from a research laboratory to a commercial AI startup, according to Hurun. This valuation increase helped lift Liang’s fortune into the top‑10.

Other AI entrepreneurs also made the top‑10. ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming reclaimed China’s richest spot with an estimated 670 billion yuan, partly because of ByteDance’s AI expansion, and Cambricon founder Chen Tianshi, 41, entered the list with a fortune of about $30.5 billion.

Hurun’s 2026 list added 263 newcomers, driven by AI, semiconductor and robotics sectors. The combined wealth of the 1,529 entrepreneurs on the list reached 32 trillion yuan, a 7 % increase from the previous year.

The surge of AI‑focused companies is clearly reshaping China’s richest‑person rankings, pushing founders like Liang Wenfeng into the elite circle faster than before. This trend suggests that breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are becoming a major source of new billionaire wealth in China.