Recently, Tencent Technology revealed that Yao Shunyu, a prominent expert in AI Agents and reasoning, has officially taken on the role of Chief AI Scientist at Tencent, reporting directly to Tencent President Martin Lau. Yao will also head the newly formed AI Infra Department and Large Language Model Department, under the supervision of Lu Shan, President of the Technology and Engineering Group.

Yao Shunyu completed his undergraduate studies in the Yao Class at Tsinghua University and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton University. In 2024, he joined OpenAI, where he played a pivotal role in the development of the intelligent agent products 'operator' and 'deep research.' As a key contributor to these initiatives, Yao made significant strides in the field.

Yao Shunyu has introduced several groundbreaking methods in AI, notably the ReAct paradigm and the Tree of Thoughts (ToT) framework. The ReAct paradigm was a pioneering move, introducing an agent framework that seamlessly integrates 'reasoning' and 'action,' setting the stage for the creation of versatile and scalable language agents. Meanwhile, the ToT framework refined decision-making models, substantially boosting their capacity to tackle tasks that demand planning and intricate search processes. Furthermore, Yao Shunyu developed the CoALA modular cognitive architecture, which offers a cohesive framework for language agent research and charts a course for future exploration.

In May 2025, at the tender age of 27, Yao was honored as one of the 'Innovators Under 35 China' by MIT Technology Review, making him the youngest recipient of this prestigious accolade. Earlier, whispers circulated suggesting that Yao Shunyu had departed from OpenAI to join Tencent with a staggering salary package exceeding 100 million yuan. However, Tencent's official WeChat account, 'E-Chang Heibanbao,' swiftly issued a statement to dispel these rumors, confirming their inaccuracy.