13yo Chinese AI whiz dubbed 'future Elon Musk' after hackathon wins
A 13-year-old from Hangzhou in eastern China has drawn around 500,000 social media followers and the "future Elon Musk" nickname after winning various hackathon awards by using AI to solve everyday problems.
In early 2025, an eighth-grade student named Yang Xizhe from Fuchun Middle School in Fuyang District gained attention for an AI-assisted method of memorizing English vocabulary that garnered 20 million views. Using ByteDance's AI chatbot Doubao, Yang integrated new vocabulary into narratives, conducted dictation exercises with corrections, and produced quizzes.
This year, Yang has participated in three hackathons. His team secured first place at Moonshot 48, a hackathon for secondary school students, with an AI vision system assisting visually impaired individuals in applying makeup. At HackMIT China, a youth edition of MIT's hackathon in Shenzhen, Yang's team developed an AI-powered lunchbox that informs parents about their children's school lunches, winning a Best Pitch Award and second place in their category.
In April, Yang and three fellow junior secondary students competed against adult teams at RedNote's first hackathon championship, winning the AI Native special award for a tool diagnosing and improving creators' posts. A company offered to purchase it for 100,000 yuan ($14,900). Chinese tech figures have labeled Yang a "future Elon Musk," although he and his parents downplay the comparison.
Yang began programming in second grade using Scratch and later transitioned to C++. He began employing AI in 2023 after his father suggested asking a chatbot for help with a coding issue his parents couldn't resolve. Now, Yang relies on "vibe coding," providing plain language descriptions to AI, which generates the code. He views AI as a multiplier and the user as the base number.
If the user is zero, the outcome remains zero, Yang explained to the 21st Century Business Herald. Chinese bloggers have dubbed him a potential "future Elon Musk," but Yang and his parents have dismissed the label. He dedicates three hours daily to programming and AI and aims to maintain high academic performance. His homeroom teacher noted that he ranks around 50th in his grade.
Chinese tech companies are increasingly seeking out teenage talent, with Tencent launching AI and robotics camps for students aged 13 to 18 in June, citing a McKinsey projection that China might face a shortage of 5 million AI workers by 2030. Yang aspires to become a programmer or AI researcher, expressing a desire to effect positive change in the world.
Written by urgent.news from VnExpress International's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
