SenseTime shares take a hit after founder's death
Shares of Chinese artificial intelligence giant SenseTime plunged as much as 18.25 percent to an all-time low on Monday morning, before narrowing losses to about 11 percent as the session closed. The falls came after SenseTime founder Tang Xiao’ou died on Friday at the age of 55 after succumbing to an undisclosed illness. “It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the sad news that our beloved founder, Tang Xiao’ou... succumbed to an illness and left us forever at 11:45pm on December 15, 2023,” SenseTime said in a statement on Sunday. The Hong Kong-listed company said about 6.9 billion class A shares held by Tang will be converted into class B shares on a one-to-one basis. “The passing of Prof. Tang is not expected to have a material adverse impact on the daily management and the ordinary business activities of the company. The company will strive to maintain the stable development of its business, management and operational activities,” said SenseTime in a statement on Monday.  It added that its business operations will continue to be led by its chief executive officer Xu Li and  executive directors Wang Xiaogang and Xu Bing. It also reiterated that Tang’s controlling stake, along with shares held by Xu Li, Wang and Xu Bing, will remain under a voluntary lock-up agreement until December 2024. SenseTime develops AI software platforms and technologies, including AI-enabled content generation, facial recognition, as well as autonomous driving. It joined a global race of generative artificial intelligence this year and was among the first Chinese tech firms to receive government approval to publicly roll out ChatGPT-like services. But it also faced challenges, with the United States placing the company on a trade blacklist in 2019 after accusing it of being linked to human rights violations in Xinjiang -- a claim that Sensetime rejected. Born in 1968, Tang was regarded as a pioneer in China’s AI sector, helping create one of the nation’s leaders in computer vision. He was listed by Forbes as the 33rd richest person in Hong Kong in February. The company said Tang's spirit and achievements will live on. “The directors and all employees of the company are committed to completing his mission, never forgetting the company’s original aspiration, and forging ahead,” SenseTime said.