Chinese AI Startup Dify Relocates CEO and Operations to Silicon Valley

Luyu Zhang, CEO of artificial intelligence startup Dify, relocated from China to Menlo Park last year. He told Forbes through a translator that he is too busy with work to improve his English. Zhang dropped out of middle school in Anhui province and later managed an engineering team at Tencent. He started Dify after encountering generative AI in 2022.

Dify raised $30 million at a $180 million valuation from HSG, GL Ventures, 5Y Capital and Mizuho Leaguer Investment. The company employs 100 people, is profitable and serves more than 280 enterprise customers including Volvo, ThermoFisher Scientific and Novartis.

Its open-source project ranks 52nd among the most-starred repositories on GitHub. The core engineering team of 60 remains in China while the company hires in the Bay Area and Tokyo.

Zhang said he knows nearly 20 Chinese startup founders now relocating to the United States. Investor Lake Dai said at least 100 Chinese entrepreneurs have contacted her about moving in the past two years. Zhang cited Meta’s proposed $2 billion acquisition of Manus as an example of the “China origin + overseas operation” model.

He said building a global AI infrastructure company requires competing in Silicon Valley. "Entrepreneurs coming from China to the US are not political. We just want to build great products that people use.