Yan Junjie × Luo Yonghao: The Mountain Can Be Crossed

Why it matters

Luo Yonghao in long conversation with MiniMax founder Yan Junjie: why one startup builds voice, video, text and music at once — true AGI must be multimodal; how Chinese companies reach global leadership with a fraction of US funding; the reflection triggered by DeepSeek's Spring Festival explosion and the team's ability to grow stronger under pressure; why he bets against AI glasses — phones stay the protagonist for five years; and a GDP-based stage theory of AGI.

Key takeaways

• Multimodal AGI conviction: voice/video/text/music in one startup, answering 'why build everything'; Sora 2 as the integration template, a unified next-gen model ahead.
• China's cost advantage: followers spend a fraction of US capital yet reach global leadership through engineering efficiency and structural advantages.
• The DeepSeek moment: 'why weren't we that good' — lowered standards, wavering choices, no open-source from the top tier; the ability to get stronger under pressure.
• Against AI glasses: phones remain the protagonist for five years; an AI phone needs a universal assistant with open data, led by OS makers.
• AGI stage theory: exploration vs exploitation; with 2% of GDP contribution as the yardstick, two to three years away — competition is still early.