Washington blacklisted a China-based venture firm set up by former Microsoft executive Lu Qi, as the State Department announced measures against Shanghai Zhisuan Technology and sanctions on Lu's MiraclePlus and three affiliates. The actions may include freezing any U.S. assets and restricting access to banking services. MiraclePlus representatives did not immediately respond to emailed and messaged requests for comment.
Zhisuan was created in 2023 by ex-Google software engineer Ding Linwei to develop a platform that supports AI model training. The State Department said Ding applied on Zhisuan's behalf to MiraclePlus's startup program, emphasizing his familiarity with Google technology. After the January conviction, the Justice Department stated he had, while still employed at Google, aligned himself with two AI companies in China on the side.
According to authorities, he moved more than 2,000 pages of trade-secret documents into a personal cloud account, and during the final two weeks leading up to his December 2023 resignation, he also copied files onto his computer. His attorneys argued the materials did not meet the legal definition of trade secrets and that prosecutors had not shown any intent to use them for the benefit of his company or China; in September, he received a one-year jail sentence.
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MiraclePlus traces to Lu Qi, who Baidu recruited in 2017 to lead its AI push before he left a year later for personal reasons. In 2018, then Y Combinator President Sam Altman brought Lu in to help build YC China. A year after Y Combinator canceled that expansion, Lu and his team continued under the MiraclePlus name.
MiraclePlus and three affiliates provided seed financing to Zhisuan, according to the State Department. The firm has invested in SiliconFlow, an AI inference platform, and AgiBot, a robotics maker - and both are weighing listings in Hong Kong.
Sanctions that may freeze assets and curb banking access introduce counterparty and liquidity risks for any business touching the named entities. If your portfolio has exposure to companies financed by MiraclePlus or operating nearby in its network, this is a live regulatory watch item.
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