Behind the Claude Code Top User: How an AI Founder Pushed a Tool to Its Limits | A Conversation with Xiaopai Liu

Behind the Claude Code Top User: How an AI Founder Pushed a Tool to Its Limits | A Conversation with Xiaopai Liu

August 31, 2025

This week's Crossroads guest is a "number-one spender" — not the kind who tops a livestream leaderboard, but the reigning champion of Claude Code token consumption.

Here's how it unfolded. Two weeks ago, Anthropic issued an announcement: their engineers had spotted an anomalous account in the backend data, burning through Claude model compute at an unbelievable pace, 24/7. The notice stated: "One user, on a $200 monthly plan, consumed $50,000 worth of model usage."

The consumption was so massive that Anthropic had to publicly issue a statement adjusting rate limits for users worldwide.

This immediately triggered global speculation and debate across tech circles: who was this mysterious super-user? What exactly were they doing with Claude Code to generate such staggering consumption?

Just as everyone was burning with curiosity, a Chinese user named Xiaopai Liu posted on X claiming the number-one spot: "So the person Anthropic is hunting down — the one burning through tens of thousands of dollars every month — that was me?!"

In an instant, global attention converged on him.

Was he a rules-exploiting freebie hunter, or a super-player pushing AI's potential to its absolute limit? What secrets lay behind that astronomical bill?

Today on Crossroads, we're honored to host this legendary "number-one spender" — Xiaopai Liu. He's an exceptional AI entrepreneur whose three products — Raphael AI, AnyVoice, and Fast3D — are growing rapidly and generating substantial revenue.

In this episode, he'll share the truth behind those shocking consumption numbers, and as a non-programmer founder, how he went from zero to one using AI independently to handle product insight, development, and profitability — the full journey.

🟢 03:09 Rapid Fire: Age, alma mater, MBTI and zodiac sign, one-sentence description of current company and products, fundraising status, revenue and profit, team size, pre-entrepreneurship experience

🟢 04:58 The Number-One Spender and the Astronomical Bill

Is he a system-exploiting freebie hunter, or a super-player who pushed AI potential to its limit? What exactly did he do with Claude Code to become global number one? One person, 7.7 billion tokens, a $50,000 bill... How did you so ordinarily reach global #1? Were there some extraordinary methods behind it?

Our revenue is quite good, team of just six or seven people, profit at market rates could easily support thirty to fifty people.

At first, I thought Claude Code was just a Cursor that's more powerful than Cursor.

What do you think of people saying you "abused the rules"?

I'm past the age of caring who likes me and who doesn't.

🟢 08:22 A "Non-Mainstream" AI Workflow

If you dare to have an SOP for something, it can definitely be automated with Claude Code.

Besides writing code, what else can it do? — 900 styles of AI-generated images, done while I slept.

It's programming in a broad sense. Is this programming? Sort of, and sort of not.

Tools like Manus are a "finite set"; for me, Claude Code is an "infinite set."

Experience sharing: How do you keep Claude Code from turning code into a "shit mountain"?

Write requirements documents seriously, then discuss the approach with it first.

All innovation today stands on the shoulders of those who came before.

Three advanced features worth studying: background commands, sub-agents, and output styles.

🟢 23:56 Unlocking Xiaopai Liu's Ten Identities

A Crossroads social icebreaker experiment: the guest completes a "panoramic" self-introduction using ten "I am..." statements.

  • I am an AI product entrepreneur
  • I am a product manager
  • I am also a programmer
  • I am definitely a goofball
  • My Dedao credits are one point higher than Zhenyu Luo's
  • I am a verified musician on QQ Music
  • I am one of the world's most skilled Claude Code users
  • I am a co-founder of an incubator
  • I am a relatively well-known independent developer in China
  • I am the spiritual idol of the "doggedly loyal corporate slave"

🟢 33:30 From Cheetah Mobile to the Open Wilderness: A Life Methodology

At Microsoft Research Asia, I discovered the secret of "technology" was actually two words: science and technology.

Cheetah Mobile's secret to success was that they always believed in simplicity.

Working with Louis, founder of TikTok predecessor Musical.ly: "He actually reduced four buttons to one."

How do you expand your surface area of luck?

What's most important about getting out there? It's getting out there.

Expose yourself to as many variables as possible; some will always work in your favor.

🟢 46:33 The Entrepreneur's "Turpentine"

Which models for which scenarios?

When facing the highest-level competition-grade algorithms, GPT is actually strongest.

Gemini plays more of an architect role for me.

What's different about building products in this era versus the last?

Many AI products are quite profitable; but the top AI products aren't very profitable, especially those that took investment.

What advice would you give to people who want to take active action?

"It is not for you, It is you" — it's not a tool created for you, it is you.

Life is an open wilderness, but you need "mines" to go wild.

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🚦 Crossroads is Steve Jobs's metaphor for Apple — standing at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, where great products are born. AI is transforming every industry. We seek out, interview, and bring together a new generation of AI founders and proactive actors in the AI era. Together with them, we explore and embrace the changes and new possibilities.

👦🏻 Host Koji: I co-founded Jiepang / The Fair / Tangdao, and started AI Hacker House, a community space for a new generation of AI entrepreneurs. I believe technology, especially AI, represents the greatest value-creation opportunity of our generation. Feel free to reach out to chat, bounce ideas, and connect with what's next. Koji on Jike, Koji's website

👧🏻 Host Ronghui: I've worked at a dollar-denominated VC and spent five years as a Silicon Valley correspondent, tracking technological development and business stories. Feel free to reach out to chat and exchange ideas. Ronghui on Jike

🎄 This podcast is supported by The Fair's Sound Forest Podcast Initiative.