E10. Jinjian Zhang: In the Age of AI, Live as Yourself

Not long ago, MiniMax, a portfolio company of Oasis Capital, successfully listed in Hong Kong.

We were invited to appear on 42 Chapters, where we sat down with Kai Qu to reflect on the market shifts of the past three years amid the AI wave — and what we've been thinking, observing, and doing along the way.

Three years ago, AI was still a conviction held by the few. Three years later, it has completed the transition from technological faith to path validation. A small cycle has run its course; the final answers remain unconfirmed, but for many, a new starting point is gradually emerging and the direction is becoming clearer.

Six months ago, the first episode of Signal and Noise went live. We chose to redirect our attention back to concrete individuals, documenting their judgments, choices, actions, and insights amid external change.

Looking back from today, technology is accelerating and paths are still being explored. At the individual level, living authentically and finding one's own vitality remains that unchanging through-line — and it has become even more critical in the AI era.

We're republishing this conversation as our opening to 2026.

We hope to continue meeting heart-to-heart with all of you in the new year, participating in and celebrating vitality together.

🎙️ Vitality Dialogue

Kai Qu, Founder of 42 Chapters

Jinjian Zhang, Partner at Oasis Capital

🕒 Selected Timestamps

Part 1: Retrospective and Outlook

2:07 The best decision and biggest regret of the past three years

3:30 Investing in AI: there's always someone more aggressive

7:37 If you could turn back time, how would you dimensionally dominate investing?

9:44 What's the biggest evolution in your understanding of AI?

11:18 Do you still believe in AGI?

11:56 What are your expectations for the next three years?

16:13 A little humor: we might soon see "PPT intangible cultural heritage inheritors"

17:31 I don't really like the word "bubble" — too academic (even a bit pretentious?)

19:54 Are those on the margins always the ones driving reform? Does innovation necessarily happen at the edges?

Part 2: Investing and Markets

21:13 The more information overload and market noise, the more you need to...

23:37 How has your people-evaluation logic changed?

24:42 Asset strategy for the AI era: "long action, short thinking"

25:55 The next decade may revolve around a single word: agency

32:13 What signals are actually worth paying attention to right now?

34:54 What do Zhipu AI and MiniMax's listings mean for the market?

36:49 From investing in MiniMax to now: how has your understanding of large models evolved?

39:48 Large models and embodied intelligence: the south face and north face of AGI

41:32 Embodied intelligence has three developmental stages; market perception is still stuck in stage two

45:54 What Oasis has been paying attention to and wants to invest in lately

48:32 I'm very optimistic about China's market in '26

Part 3: Participating in Vitality

50:37 How do you understand "vitality"?

52:23 How to live authentically? — The Tao derived from "skipping dinner"

57:25 An insight from researching AI

1:00:52 If life is reinforcement learning, what's your reward function?

1:03:02 To what extent can investment outcomes be attributed to luck?

1:06:00 What has podcasting brought Jinjian?

1:07:55 Turning the tables on Kai Qu: what has podcasting brought you?

1:11:03 The single biggest piece of advice for everyone over the next three years

1:13:11 In the future, there may be only two survival strategies for humans

1:15:24 A concrete example: how does Junjie make decisions?

1:17:13 Believe in this generation of Chinese founders' global vision and capacity for innovation

🎵 Music

Mondo Bongo - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros

Jordan Critz - Beau Et Rapide (Piano)

🎤 Production Team

Produced by | 42 Chapters, Oasis Capital

💬 Join the Conversation

Over the past 3 years, in the AI era, how has your life changed?

Leave a comment below, or add WeChat VB20240606 to join the group chat

Disclaimer

All investment-related content in this podcast is for exchange and sharing purposes only, for reference, and does not constitute any market forecast, judgment, or investment or consulting advice. Thank you for your interest in this podcast's original content! If you repost or quote content from this podcast, please indicate the source. Please contact Oasis Capital and obtain consent before reposting.

View episode transcript on Xiaoyuzhou