Summary
Meituan announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on June 29, 2023 that it had acquired all the equity of Light Years Away for RMB 2.065 billion. Light Years Beyond is an innovative company dedicated to promoting artificial general intelligence (AGI), founded by Meituan co-founder Wang Huiwen. Due to physical reasons, Wang Huiwen has left the post for medical treatment. Meituan stated that the acquisition of leading AGI technology and talents through the acquisition has the opportunity to strengthen its competitiveness in the fast-growing artificial intelligence industry and better fulfill the group's mission of "helping everyone eat better and live better". mission. This article analyzes the background, motivation and significance of Meituan’s acquisition of Light Year Beyond, as well as related topics such as Wang Huiwen’s depression, the industry’s views on Meituan’s acquisition, and Meituan’s development prospects in AI.
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1. Acquisition background: Wang Huiwen’s AI dream
Wang Huiwen is one of the co-founders of Meituan. He has served as vice president, chief technology officer, and chief data officer of Meituan. He is responsible for the technical architecture, data analysis, and algorithm optimization of the Meituan platform. He is known as "China's best CTO" and is an important guarantee for Meituan's technical strength.
In September 2021, Wang Huiwen suddenly announced that he would leave Meituan and start an AI company light years away. He said that he has a deep interest in and pursuit of AI, and hopes to realize AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), that is, an artificial intelligence that can learn, understand and create autonomously like humans. He believes that AGI is one of the greatest scientific explorations in human history and one of the most important infrastructures for the future society.
After the establishment of Light Years Beyond, it quickly attracted more than 70 core members including several top experts and entrepreneurs in the field of artificial intelligence to join. The company is committed to exploring and researching in the field of large models to create a general-purpose AI system that can handle complex tasks and scenarios. It is reported that the company has achieved some initial results, such as demonstrating high-level technical capabilities in natural language processing, image generation, audio synthesis, etc.
2. Acquisition motivation: Meituan’s AI strategy
Meituan is one of the largest life service platforms in China, covering multiple fields such as food delivery, in-store dining, hotel tourism, taxi travel, and new retail. Meituan has always attached great importance to technological innovation and investment, and regards AI as the core driving force to improve user experience and business efficiency. Meituan has applied AI technology in multiple business scenarios, such as optimizing delivery routes and time through machine learning, improving customer service efficiency and quality through natural language processing, and realizing smart restaurants and unmanned delivery through computer vision.
Meituan's acquisition of Light Years Away is an important layout in the field of AI. Meituan stated that through the acquisition of leading AGI technology and talents, the company has the opportunity to strengthen its competitiveness in the fast-growing artificial intelligence industry and better fulfill the group's "help everyone eat better and live better" duty of. Meituan believes that AGI technology has broad application prospects and commercial value. It can provide users and businesses with smarter, more convenient, and more personalized services, and it can also create more benefits and value for society.
3. Significance of acquisition: Wang Huiwen’s depression
Meituan's acquisition of Light Years Away is not only a commercial act, but also a humanistic concern. As an old colleague and friend of Meituan, Wang Huiwen has made great contributions to Meituan. However, after founding Light Years Away, he suffered from depression. He disclosed his mental state and seeking help information on social media many times, which aroused widespread attention and sympathy from the society.
It is reported that Wang Huiwen's depression is related to his high pursuit and pressure on AI. He once said, "I want to make an AI friend who can chat with me, play games with me, and help me solve problems." He also said, "I want AI to understand human emotions and values, and be able to Live in harmony with humans." He has almost idealized expectations and persistence for AI, but he is also aware of the difficulties and challenges in realizing AGI. He once said, "AGI is a very complex system engineering, which requires the cooperation of many experts in different fields, a lot of time and resources, and a lot of trial and error and iteration." He also said, "AGI is a very powerful system. Controversial topics have many different views and positions, and there are many uncertain risks and ethical issues." In the process of pursuing his dream of AI, he encountered many difficulties and pressures, which led to problems with his mental health.
Meituan's acquisition of Light Years Away can be seen as a kind of support and help to Wang Huiwen. Meituan can provide more sufficient funds, resources and platforms for the light-year away, so that the teams outside the light-year can focus more on technology research and development and innovation, and reduce Wang Huiwen's burden and pressure. Meituan can also provide Wang Huiwen with more care and companionship, so that Wang Huiwen can feel the warmth and strength of the big Meituan family, and help him get out of the shadow of depression.
4. Acquisition Response: Industry Views
The news of Meituan’s acquisition of Light Years Beyond has aroused mixed reactions in the industry. Some people believe that this is a win-win cooperation. Meituan can make greater breakthroughs and leading positions in the field of AI by taking advantage of its technological advantages beyond light years;
The field of AI has achieved wider application and landing. Some people believe that this is a risky attempt. Meituan may affect the stability and development of its core business because it is too distracting; creativity.
Different people have different perspectives and positions on Meituan’s acquisition of Light Year Beyond, but most people agree that this is an event worth paying attention to and looking forward to. It reflects the attitude of Meituan and Light Year Beyond to AI technology. It also demonstrates China's innovation and progress in the field of AI.
5. Acquisition prospects: Meituan is doing AI
Meituan's acquisition of Light Years Away is an important move for Meituan in the field of AI, and it is also an important layout for Meituan's future development. Meituan has its own advantages and challenges in doing AI, as well as its own goals and vision.
The advantage of Meituan in AI is that Meituan has a huge user base and business resources, can provide massive data and scenarios, and provides a solid foundation for the training and application of AI technology. Meituan also has a strong technical team and innovative capabilities, and is able to continuously explore and break through the boundaries of AI technology, providing a strong impetus for the development of AI technology. Meituan also has an open cooperation attitude and platform concept, and can share and win-win with all parties, providing a broad space for the promotion and inclusiveness of AI technology.
The challenge for Meituan to do AI is that Meituan is facing fierce competition and a changing environment, and needs to constantly adapt and adjust to maintain the stability and growth of its core business. Meituan is also facing complex needs and problems, and needs continuous optimization and innovation to improve its user experience and business efficiency. Meituan is also faced with multiple values and ethics, and needs constant balance and coordination to realize its social responsibility and mission.
The goal of Meituan in AI is that Meituan hopes to use AI technology to provide users with smarter, more convenient, and more personalized life services; to provide businesses with more efficient, more accurate, and more flexible business solutions; More well-being and value. The vision of Meituan in AI is that Meituan hopes to realize its mission of "helping everyone eat better and live better" through AI technology; promote the development of the artificial intelligence industry; and promote the progress of human society.
in conclusion
Meituan’s acquisition of Light Years Beyond for RMB 2.065 billion was a notable event. It involves many aspects such as Wang Huiwen's AI dream, Meituan's AI strategy, the industry's views on acquisitions, and Meituan's prospects for AI. This article analyzes these aspects, and believes that this is a win-win, risky, worth looking forward to, and meaningful cooperation. It is hoped that Meituan and Guangyuewai can work together to achieve greater achievements in the field of AI.