Deepseek founder, 'deep diver' in Nature's 2025 list of science influencers

DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng and geoscientist Du Mengran have been named to Nature's annual list of the top 10 people who have shaped science for 2025.

Liang Wenfeng, a 40-year-old "tech disruptor", was recognized for his role in pushing forward artificial intelligence development. Nature highlighted his launch of a powerful but inexpensive large language model that "rocked the world", demonstrating that the United States was not as far ahead in AI as many experts had thought.

Liang made his model's weights open — a first of its kind — providing free access for downloading and building upon. This has been a boon for researchers seeking to adapt algorithms to their own fields and has prompted peer companies worldwide to release their own open models, accelerating the field's progress.

The model boasts a strong capacity to solve problems as a reasoning model, yet its training cost is remarkably low, according to a study Liang published in Nature in September. Even with the $6 million spent developing the basic model, the total cost is still much less than those of other rival companies.

Du Mengran, a geoscientist from the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was also named on the list.

Nature described Du as a "deep diver". She is currently on a new expedition. The selection, she told China Daily, is not a prize or ranking but a list compiled by Nature's editors that explores important developments and stories in science over the past year.

The selection, she added, emphasizes how the hadal zone — the ocean's deepest layer, extending beyond 6,000 meters — is increasingly attracting attention in scientific research. Du noted that "Deep-sea exploration is considered even more difficult than space exploration due to factors such as high pressure, low visibility, and low temperatures."

She highlighted China's foresight in the field over the past decade, including developing deep-sea diving equipment, creating new materials, and leading a global trench exploration and diving program. "This honor is not mine alone but belongs to the hadal exploration team," she said.

Du was honored for observing the deepest known chemosynthetic ecosystems on Earth. Studying their survival mechanisms can stimulate research in life sciences and enhance the understanding of the global carbon cycle. She and her colleagues obtained the findings during last year's expedition with the China-developed submersible Fendouzhe, conducting 24 dives, each lasting around six hours on average.

"To grasp the unknown, you must venture there, experience it, and observe it with your own eyes," Du said, expressing her expectation for the ongoing expedition.