William Chen, cofounder of the AI lab Sapient Intelligence, details his unconventional path from Shenzhen to Tsinghua University, and how he maintained a vital bridge to Silicon Valley.
For William Chen. the decision to forgo elite American universities wasn’t about choosing one country over another; it was a calculated risk to build his future on his own terms. Growing up in Shenzhen, China, Chen had long nurtured a dream of being an inventor. By the time college applications arrived, he held offers from U.S. institutions like Georgia Tech and Carnegie Mellon, yet he found himself looking closely at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
He had reservations. The Chinese education system is defined by the high-stakes Gao Kao entrance exam, a pressure cooker that prioritizes test scores above the creative, entrepreneurial drive Chen craved. He feared he would trade his independence for a rigid academic hierarchy.
Before finalizing his plans, Chen took a scouting trip to Tsinghua. He walked onto the campus and began knocking on professors’ doors to discuss research opportunities. What he found wasn’t a closed-off environment of rote memorization, but an infrastructure built to support student entrepreneurs. When the university offered him a scholarship. the choice became clear: he would stay in China for his mechanical engineering degree. accompanied by his high school friend and future cofounder. Guan Wang.
But staying in Beijing meant the risk of professional isolation from the epicenter of global tech. Chen refused to let that happen.
In 2019, during a 20-day winter break, he embarked on a grueling U.S. tour. He shadowed high school friends across the country. living in their dorms or nearby hotels as he moved from MIT to Columbia. Carnegie Mellon. the University of Pennsylvania. and the University of Michigan. He then flew to the West Coast, visiting USC, UCLA, Stanford, and Berkeley. He sat in on their classes. explored their labs. and met with their professors. performing a constant “vibe check” on the research climate in the U.S. to ensure his own trajectory remained sharp.
That bridge-building served its purpose. In 2024, Chen and Wang launched Sapient Intelligence in Singapore. The firm, an artificial general intelligence lab, is now 50 people strong with offices in Singapore, Beijing, and Palo Alto. Their work focuses on latent-space AI models—specifically a research tool dubbed Praxist—designed to solve complex problems with higher speed and efficiency than existing market models.
For Chen. the education he sought in China provided the academic momentum he needed. while the deep ties he maintained in the U.S. provided the network for his eventual expansion. What began as a high school partnership in robotics has evolved into a tri-continental enterprise. bridging the very borders Chen once navigated to find his own way.
William Chen Sapient Intelligence Tsinghua University AI Silicon Valley startup tech industry