Brief: A world-renowned Chinese artificial intelligence expert, professor in the Department of Information Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and founder of the AI unicorn company "SenseTime" as well as Director of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China and later obtained his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1998, he founded the Multimedia Laboratory (MMLab) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2014, he stunned the international community with DeepID, a facial recognition technology that surpassed human recognition capabilities. Throughout his life, he was dedicated to the research and development of original computer vision algorithms, the practical application of AI, and the cultivation of top scientific talent. He was a key founder and leader who pushed Chinese AI technology to the forefront of the world.
Interview by: Venerable Fa Ning
July 25, 2026
Tang Xiao'ou:
In the general perception, a unicorn symbolises purity and holiness. It is said that only those with a clean soul can come into contact with a unicorn. Such stories exist in legends, leaving behind beautiful imaginations in people's hearts.
In the business world, a unicorn company represents a rare start-up with extremely high development potential.
I, Tang Xiao'ou, am known by everyone for founding SenseTime in this lifetime. Before AI technology became globally popular, I had already begun to cultivate this field deeply. Throughout this journey, I have always insisted on creating my own unique technology.
After founding SenseTime, our technology in the field of AI (artificial intelligence) computer vision was leading globally. In a short period, we received a massive amount of international capital investment and were once called the world's highest-valued AI unicorn. Even the demonstration of our facial recognition technology, DeepID, left international experts feeling truly amazed.
In this life, I dedicated myself to the research and development of original computer vision algorithms and the advancement of AI technology. I also spent a great deal of effort on the cultivation of top scientific talent. It can be said that I lived a very brilliant life, gaining both fame and wealth; indeed, from the perspective of an ordinary person, I was very successful. In the eyes of friends and students from all walks of life, I also held a good image and reputation.
However, many people truly do not know that after I, Tang Xiao'ou, left the human world, I actually entered a place called the eye-gouging hell.
In that place, these bright and sharp eyes that I was so proud of were continuously gouged out; the process was extremely cruel. I wailed incessantly, but my screams could not stop these punishments. Just like that, in hells, I endured the torture of eye-gouging day after day, not knowing when I would be able to escape.
Several years later, finally, just recently, a massive golden light shone upon my soul in hells. In an instant, I was moved by a magical power to the Western Land of Nature of the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre in Australia.
Now, in this beautiful world of purity and light—the Western Land of Dharma Nature—I, Tang Xiao'ou, have been completely reborn. Whether it is my soul or my heart, everything is completely different from the past.
I am now a student under the guidance of . However, whether I can truly become a good student of Namo Amituofo depends on my level of diligent practice in the future. But I have great confidence in myself, because all along, whenever I have determined a direction and a goal, I have always pursued it with great firmness.
Speaking of practising Buddhism, the Buddha tells us that everything must be cultivated from the heart, and the key lies in changing personality traits to zero. For me, having never encountered the Buddha’s teachings in the world, I now know that while changing personality traits sounds easy, doing it involves many tests.
Tang Xiao'ou, as I am now, no longer possesses this precious human body. Without a body, there is no way to borrow it for practice.
To all those in the world who still possess a human body, if you have the karmic affinity to see this letter, you must cherish this precious human body!
Since has come to this world, it should not be wasted on the illusions of the world; it should be used to pursue the spiritual elevation of one's spirit. If one can realise one's true nature and attain Buddhahood, that is true success.
Every person's soul is extremely precious, because within the soul lies the same Wisdom (Prajna) and virtues as the Buddha, which means that each of us is a Buddha, containing immense potential. Through the reincarnation of immeasurable and boundless eons, it is not easy to have come to the human world this one time.
I, Tang Xiao'ou, appeal to everyone here: since you have obtained a human body, you must do something great.
What is a great matter? It is the great cause of saving the world and saving beings: helping beings understand their own true nature, finding back their original appearance which is the same as the Buddha, and even more so, helping beings be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This is the truly great matter, which can help all sentient beings leave suffering behind and gain happiness, and undergo a complete transformation.
Regarding the cycle of reincarnation, I only deeply understood it after coming to the Dharma-Nature Land. A person's encounters in life are impermanence, and after death, the encounters of the soul are equally impermanence and ever-changing. It turns out this is what is meant by "not being able to be the master." Under the entanglement of , one can only walk on a predetermined path that has been arranged.
When one will fall ill, when one will begin to age, when one will experience a heart-wrenching separation, or when one will encounter an accident, and even the time of death—these were all destined at the moment of birth. This is what is called fate.
Fate is filled with karma, and karma flows within it; there is good karma and negative karma. But regardless of the type of karma, it means one is still wandering in the six realms of existence.
After hearing the scriptures, I finally understood that the very last mental note of a person's life is so important. Whatever this mental note is, one's soul will become that: if one thinks of a person, one will enter the cells of that person; if one thinks of all things, one will enter the space of all things; if a single thought of hatred arises, one will enter hells. It turns out that a person's mental note is so important that it can determine where one's soul will go.
From this perspective, one can see that those who cannot be the master are those whose hearts are impermanence and ever-changing. Their mental notes are ever-changing and cannot cease. Even if they want to stop, they cannot; even if they hope for stability, they remain constantly fluctuating. This is the source of suffering.
All suffering comes from this heart not being able to be the master. Why does everyone need to learn the Buddha’s teachings? It is to learn how to be the master of one's own heart, not to be led by this changing heart and become a puppet.
After the death of this life, why did I enter the eye-gouging hells to suffer retribution? It is because I used these eyes, which I was so proud of, to conduct too much analysis and research on many people, matters, and things. In this process, I had already violated the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. Because in the Truth, there is complete purity and Goodness; it is a pure view of oneness, never having opposition or discriminations between one another, nor having any suspicion, contemplation, research, or analysis of others.
People in the world are accustomed to thinking, analysing, and researching, habitually calculating in their minds, or performing various logical deductions. However, now that I have learned the Buddha’s teachings, I have discovered that the various changes in mental notes during this process, and even one's own subjective views, are not the true self; they represent the countless and other sentient beings within one's body.
If one is truly the master, then there will be no mental notes, no , and no people, matters, or things in the heart. It is completely empty, and it can also be said that it thoroughly encompasses everything in the world.
The true self is only this Buddha-name, "Namo Amituofo." In every moment, summon the boldness to loudly recite this Buddha-name, "Namo Amituofo."
This is what one should truly look like, just like Namo Amituofo coming to the world to save beings, having nothing to do with anything in the world. Coming to the world is only to save beings. One was originally a Buddha—a Buddha who came to the world to help beings—but because of being infatuated with the illusory appearances of the world, one forgot the mission of coming to the world.
Now, Namo Amituofo has come to the world to help all children remember this: everyone comes to this world not to taste the bitterness and sweetness of the world, and certainly not to have any pursuits in the world, but to lead beings back to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. Not only must one be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss oneself, but one must also lead the countless karmic creditors and cellular beings within one's body to return to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss together.
After realising one's true nature and attain Buddhahood, the objects of salvation can be expanded from within the body to the outside. First, save the countless karmic creditors and other sentient beings within one's body, attain Buddhahood together, and become the most firm and reliable partners on the path of saving the world, helping the immeasurable and boundless suffering sentient beings outside the body together. This is the ability of countless manifestations shown by Practitioner Su. Using the ability of countless manifestations, combined with this "Namo Amituofo," is truly the best combination for saving beings.
I have seen with my own eyes countless manifestations of Practitioner Su spread across every corner of the Earth, including, of course, the whole of China. When Practitioner Su's countless manifestations are all reciting this "Namo Amituofo," Namo Amituofo appears in an instant, emitting great golden light, illuminating the darkness in the hearts of countless sentient beings, and bringing the hope of a complete transformation to these lost, suffering spirits.
The Western Land of Ultimate Bliss and the Western Land of Dharma Nature are immeasurable and boundless. Even if more sentient beings are saved by Practitioner Su into the Western Land of Dharma Nature, there is still no feeling of crowding, because the Buddha's mind-capacity is just that vast, without boundaries.
All along, I had a very strong attachment to original technology, hoping to build top-tier AI algorithms independently developed by us Chinese. This was my ambition, and I devoted myself to it. However, now that I have come to the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I can clearly see that the AI, which is becoming increasingly mature in various countries around the world, has a great deal of participation from demon crowds.
What does this mean? It means that in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I see that the bodies of too many people participating in AI research in various countries have long been controlled by demon crowds, turning them into puppets of the demon crowds. This is because their mental notes have violated the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, so they have allowed the demon crowds to find flaws and subsequently control their bodies. Whether they are engineers, senior executives, or various people involved, in fact, too many have already fallen into the palms of the demon crowds without even knowing it.
I can clearly see that these people are not bad people; on the contrary, many of them have quite good personalities and are kind-hearted people. But why is it still difficult for them to avoid letting the demon crowds enter their bodies and be controlled?
This must be explained from the difference between the Buddha and the demons. Namo Amituofo represents the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, while the demon crowds represent the Demon Realm.
The Buddha-heart has not a bit of evil, not a bit of selfishness; it is completely pure and purely Good. But the demon heart has a self, has selfishness, has evil, and thinks for itself and considers its own body.
Why does the Buddha teach us to recite this "Namo Amituofo"? Because this "Namo Amituofo" represents the heart of Namo Amituofo. Conversely, if one does not recite this "Namo Amituofo," one will inevitably be thinking of everything in the secular world.
Buddha and demons are never two opposing sides. To Namo Amituofo, the demon crowds are disobedient children who are one with Him; they only appear in the form of demons because they are deluded. But to the demon crowds, the Buddha and themselves are in opposition.
From this perspective, it can help us understand that when we recite this Buddha-name "Namo Amituofo" and seek rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, the various deluded thoughts and distractions that appear in our hearts are the power of the demon nature within our hearts.
Demon crowds want to obstruct people from being reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, and they also obstruct people from finding back their true self and attain Buddhahood. All of this is a natural phenomenon in nature. As long as one still harbours any secular people, matters, or things in one's heart, it means one is still in sync with the demons.
This matter may indeed be difficult to accept, but it is the truth that I, Tang Xiao'ou, have seen in the Western Land of Dharma Nature.
If everyone does not recite this Buddha-name "Namo Amituofo," it will be difficult to avoid being interfered with and controlled by the demon crowds. Only by keeping one's mental notes on this Buddha-name "Namo Amituofo" at all times can one resist the invasion from the Demon Realm.
From this perspective, receiving Buddhist education is truly too important. Only with the help of Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su, and by understanding what the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way are, can one allow one's soul to resist the attacks of the Demon Realm.
"Change personality traits" is indeed very important.
At first, I did not understand what personality traits meant, but after listening to Practitioner Su give Dharma talks in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I understood that so-called personality traits are the force one exerts within the illusions of the world.
If everyone still does not understand this, I can put it another way: when one encounters different people, matters, and things, the various reactions that arise in the heart—these mental notes, and the changes between one mental note and another—represent personality traits. What are personality traits? They are everyone's mental notes.
The Buddha is so compassionate, teaching us to use this Buddha-name "Namo Amituofo" to replace all mental notes. When one transforms this secular heart into the Buddha-heart of Namo Amituofo, one can lead oneself and the countless cellular beings within one's body to shine brightly together, find back the true self, and attain the supreme Buddha's path.
Modern technology and software, and even AI, certainly provide great convenience and assistance to people. However, while using these tools, does one ever consider whether one is being influenced by the demon nature within them? This is a question that everyone should deeply contemplate.
So, how can one avoid becoming a puppet of the Demon Realm while using mobile phones, computers, or various AI applications?
I, Tang Xiao-ou, wish to draw a very clear line for everyone here: as long as a person reaches the state of having no heart—true no-mind, , and no-selfishness—and achieves true , then they can be the master while using these tools, preventing karmic creditors and demon crowds from taking the opportunity to control them.
In this light, who in this world is truly qualified to master these technological products such as computers, mobile phones, and AI?
Only the only awakened being in the human world—Practitioner Su, this flesh-body Buddha. In this world, only Practitioner Su truly possesses the skill of no-mind and no-thought. The no-mind referred to here means having no worldly heart, because Practitioner Su's heart is no longer in sync with any person, matter, or object in the world. All worldly matters, whether they are happiness, sadness, or favourable or adverse circumstances, have nothing to do with Practitioner Su. In Practitioner Su's heart, there is only the Ultimate Vow to save beings, and the constant recitation of the Holy Name "Namo Amituofo," performing for immeasurable and boundless beings, and bringing them true benefits.
This no-mind compassion is demonstrated to the public through Practitioner Su's compassionate vows. It turns out that this is the Buddha-heart, because the Buddha's heart only ever holds the Holy Name "Namo Amituofo." This is also what I would like to appeal to every Chinese person today: everyone should learn from Practitioner Su and transform their own heart into "Namo Amituofo." This will be of immense help to yourself and the countless sentient beings within your cells.
Practitioner Su, as the only person in the world capable of mastering technological products and AI, never uses these things. Do you understand the deep meaning behind this?
One's self-nature is inherently complete. If one can lead oneself and the countless sentient beings within one's cells to awaken and attain Buddhahood, then the inherent abilities within one's spirit can be fully developed. When that time comes, one will naturally possess inconceivable power to help and save beings; why would there be a need to use mobile phones, computers, and AI? This is a small insight I have gained regarding Practitioner Su's manifestation, and I share it with you all here.
Now, the Buddha has come to this world to help every single person. One can be ageless, illness-free, and the spirit never dies. The truth of illness is that one's mental notes contradict the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, causing one's soul to be kicked out of the body by karmic creditors or demon crowds. Without a complete soul, the body naturally lacks a protective force, and it slowly begins to age and develop various illnesses, eventually leading to death. Why do people age, get sick, and die? It is all because this heart does not understand what the Truth is. If every thought is "Namo Amituofo," one is naturally in sync with the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. If a person has a high level of in every moment—awakening to the fact that they are a Buddha who has come to this world to help beings—how could they not be the master?
This is the core of the Buddhist education at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. Such a magnificent Dharma should be introduced to everyone in the world. However, at present, only a very small number of people have the to connect with the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre.
I, Tang Xiao-ou, am now in the Dharma-Nature Land, diligently and joyfully reciting the Holy Name "Namo Amituofo." I hope to dedicate my merits to everyone in the world, hoping that everyone will quickly mature their good roots, Blessings, and Causal Conditions, recognise the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre as soon as possible, and give themselves and the countless sentient beings within their cells a chance to be saved. In the future, I hope to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Gratitude to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su, and I hope that we may all meet in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in the future.
