US artificial intelligence (AI) video generator start-up Pika Labs has become the latest sensation in China’s tech community, after its co-founder Demi Guo was identified as a native of Hangzhou, capital of eastern Zhejiang province, and daughter of former Sunyard Technology chairman Guo Huaqiang.
While Silicon Valley-based Pika Labs, co-founded in April by Guo and her Stanford University classmate Meng Chenlin, is situated on the other side of the Pacific, its sudden fame has set off a rush by Chinese investors to buy the stock of information technology services firm Sunyard, where the elder Guo remains the largest stakeholder.
The surprise surge in Sunyard’s shares, which have risen more than 21 per cent this week, prompted the company to file a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange to clarify that Sunyard has no business ties with, nor investments, in Pika Labs.
The Pika 1.0 video-generating AI model, launched on Tuesday, is…
