This page may contain stale information. Last updated: 2026-04-27

Overview

Yao Shunyu is a former core researcher at OpenAI who joined Tencent as Chief AI Scientist in late 2025. He is known for developing the Tree of Thoughts and ReAct frameworks at OpenAI.

Background

  • Former Employer: OpenAI (core researcher)
  • Current Employer: Tencent (Chief AI Scientist, since late 2025)
  • Notable Contributions: Tree of Thoughts reasoning framework, ReAct (Reasoning + Acting) methodology

Role at Tencent

Yao Shunyu led the development of Hy3 (Hunyuan 3.0), Tencent’s next-generation AI model. His recruitment represents a significant talent acquisition by Tencent from the Western AI research community.

Sources