The Evolution of AI Search, the Manus Explosion, the Rise of Agents, and AI's Transformation of Education: Science Popularization Platform Guokr Founder Eric Ji's 2025 Tech Outlook

This week on Crossroads, we're joined by an old friend, Ji Shisan. He's best known as the founder and CEO of Guokr, but his lesser-known role is as a hard-tech angel investor — his fund has backed projects in brain-computer interfaces, AI hardware, and more. Beyond that, he's also a real-life Doraemon, his pockets stuffed with all kinds of fun new AI gadgets and AI products.

Lately, both Ji Shisan and I have found ourselves reaching for AI search tools like Perplexity, Quark, and Metaso to find answers, rather than traditional search engines like Baidu and Google. And AI search has been evolving rapidly — from the simplest web-connected queries to now DeepSeek and Quark supporting deep reasoning models layered with web search, with increasingly stunning results. We'll talk about what this shift in search habits means for user experience and the competitive landscape.

We recorded this episode right when Manus was dominating conversations across the Chinese internet. I'm an advisor to Manus's company, and also an early angel investor in Xiaohong's previous startup. I witnessed Manus's entire journey from a budding idea to internal testing to its jaw-dropping launch — it felt like a truly wonderful and magical act of creation. Both Ji Shisan and I were among the first to get Manus invitation codes, and we were both highly impressed after trying it out. In the days that followed, many netizens criticized Manus for thirst-trap marketing and lacking substantive technical breakthroughs. I saw that Ji Shisan even wrote a lengthy piece "In Defense of Manus." In the latter half of this episode, we'll also share our hands-on experience and observations with Manus.

Finally, I'll ask this Doraemon Ji Shisan to open up his pockets and share what new and fun AI products and AI hardware he's recently discovered.

🟢 Part 1. AI Search Gets Stronger — Baidu and Google Are Running Out of Time

03:34 What did it feel like the first time you used AI search?

04:22 How has AI search "evolved" over the past two years?

07:30 Which AI search products do you recommend? — Perplexity, Quark, Metaso

08:29 The next stage of AI search: deep reasoning + web search

09:53 "AI search with deep reasoning makes the disruption of traditional search engines even more thorough"

16:37 Will AI search replace traditional search?

17:26 The "innovator's dilemma" facing Baidu and Google

19:13 Commercialization experiments in AI search: Perplexity, Nexad, Profound

24:58 What will the search entry point look like in five years?

🟢 Part 2. Ji Shisan's 2025 Tech Observations

28:00 An interesting new AI product from Xiaohongshu: "Dian Dian"

29:46 What AI product does Ji Shisan use the most?

31:18 Koji's full-throated recommendations: Notion AI, Recraft

42:50 Ji Shisan's Meta Ray-Bans are gathering dust; Koji's Meta Ray-Bans are on Xianyu

44:38 Why did the Apple Vision Pro make Ji Shisan cry?

46:29 As a CEO, how does Ji Shisan view employees who use AI to do their work?

47:00 As fathers, how should we raise our children in the age of AI?

51:48 Bold predictions: what will happen in 2025?

🟢 Part 3. Let's Talk About Manus

36:17 What Manus task left the deepest impression on Ji Shisan?

37:40 Why did Ji Shisan write "In Defense of Manus"?

42:05 Manus was almost named "dodo.ai"

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Welcome to the Crossroads podcast 🚦 We track the industry shifts and new entrepreneurial opportunities brought by the new wave of AI technology. "Crossroads" was 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 "active participants" of the AI era, exploring and embracing the new changes and new possibilities alongside them.

👦🏻 Host Koji: Co-founder of The Fair and Tangdao. I believe technology, especially AI, will fundamentally transform society and empower humanity. Feel free to reach out to chat, exchange ideas, and connect on what's next. Koji on Jike, Koji's website

👧🏻 Host Ronghui: Works at a tech VC, former Silicon Valley correspondent for Yicai. Ronghui on Jike

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