Yang Xizhe, 13-year-old AI developer gains massive following in China

Yang Xizhe, a 13-year-old middle school student from Hangzhou, China, has gained significant social media attention for his ability to apply artificial intelligence and programming to education and daily life. He currently has over 500,000 followers on Chinese social media platforms.

Yang first rose to prominence in February 2025 when a video demonstrating his AI-assisted English vocabulary learning method garnered 20 million views. His technique involves uploading screenshots of vocabulary lists to the Doubao AI chatbot to generate engaging stories and personalized exercises. This method has drawn interest from parents and educators for its ability to increase student engagement.

Beyond academic applications, Yang describes himself as an ‘AI native’ and has begun participating in hackathons to develop various technological products within limited timeframes.