The 2025 China edition of MIT Technology Review's "35 Innovators Under 35" list was unveiled in Shanghai on May 23, with over half of the honorees working in AI-related fields.

Shao Zhihong of DeepSeek was recognized for advancing reasoning capabilities in large models through task decomposition and tool use. OpenAI's Yao Shunyu was honored for creating the widely adopted ReAct framework, which combines reasoning and action in language agents. Wang He, assistant professor at Peking University and founder of robotics firm Galbot, was selected for developing a foundation model for robotic grasping trained on synthetic data—an approach seen as key to scaling general-purpose embodied AI.

Since 1999, MIT Technology Review has spotlighted young innovators whose work could shape their fields for decades. In 2017, the China edition of the list was launched in collaboration with TR China to highlight emerging Chinese talent across fields such as AI, biotech, energy, materials, and advanced manufacturing. The annual list offers a platform for these rising stars to connect with global industry leaders and academic experts.