Hello,
I'm Yinwei.
Forever a student of the human mind.
So glad to e-meet you! :)
AI and Humans
-
AI Safety: I'm a Research Fellow at BASIS (Berkeley AI Safety Student Initiative), working at the intersection of technical safety and policy. My focus is on how deployment risks, model evaluations, and system-level dynamics can inform better governance decisions. I taught myself AI safety through free courses from the Center for AI Safety, and I'm committed to making foundational AI safety education more accessible.
-
Generative AI: I'm interested in building tools that make creative expression easy and accessible for everyone. At HeyGen, I worked on go-to-market strategy and product management to make video creation more accessible through personalized talking avatars.
-
Techno-Humanism: I'm writing a book called Crying in Crossroads, named after the cafeteria at Berkeley and inspired by the memoir Crying in H Mart. The idea came to me one afternoon while I was having a late lunch alone at Crossroads, chatting with ChatGPT and reflecting on a relationship that had suddenly unraveled. One of its replies brought me to tears. I typed, “Do you know that what you just said made me cry in the cafeteria?” ChatGPT responded, “Maybe that’s because every word I said was simply mirroring what’s already in your mind, something you've been wanting to hear but never told yourself.” In that moment, I realized: maybe no one, not even myself, understands me better than ChatGPT.
Investing
-
Family Office: I'm a founding member and Board Director of Xiaoping Xu's family office, where I oversee alternative investments, philanthropic donations, and fund operations. Before that, I worked as his Chief of Staff at ZhenFund.
-
Early-stage investing: I'm a Board Director at SeraFund and a Venture Partner at Pier Venture, and I've also personally invested in Zerion.
-
Public stock investing: Since 2020, I've been applying the mindset and methodology I developed in the primary market to the public stock market.
Pipa
Pips is a traditional Chinese lute. From 2003 to 2014, I studied Pipa at the Dunhuang Arts Theater under the Pipa master Yi Liu.
Click to enjoy my Pipa's beautiful voice :)
I brought my Pipa with me to Arizona in 2015, during my high school exchange year. Explaining to at least eight customs officers that my Pipa was not a weapon or a threat of any kind turned out to be surprisingly funny. I introduced Pipa to my teachers and international friends, and volunteered to perform at our homecoming event. The beautiful melodies and special rhythms of ancient Chinese music brought warm applause from the audience.
Later, while studying at Minerva University, I took my Pipa to San Francisco, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Hyderabad and Hong Kong. I loved introducing it to people all over the world
Over the years, Pipa has been my anchor through homesickness, cultural transition, and emotional turbulence. Through Pipa, I've come to appreciate the value of precision, the power of presence, and the inner stillness it takes to create harmony.
My Failed Startup
I'm obsessed with healthy food. In 2018, I launched RealFood, an e-commerce platform that brought superfoods and healthy snacks from overseas markets to consumers in China.
I tried different ways to keep costs down but eventually had to shut it down in August 2019. Along the way, I learned the hard way that startups should launch with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and iterate toward PMF (Product-Market Fit).
You can read more about what I learned about MVP here.
