He developed Manus, one of the buzziest AI apps of the year, in the latest project that blends his technical prowess with killer consumer instincts.
Yichao “Peak” Ji is one of MIT Technology Review’s 2025 Innovators Under 35. Meet the rest of this year’s honorees.
When Yichao Ji—also known as “Peak”—appeared in a launch video for Manus in March, he didn’t expect it to go viral. Speaking in fluent English, the 32-year-old introduced the AI agent built by Chinese startup Butterfly Effect, where he serves as chief scientist.
The video was not an elaborate production—it was directed by cofounder Zhang Tao and filmed in a corner of their Beijing office. But something about Ji’s delivery, and the vision behind the product, cut through the noise. The product, then still an early preview available only through invite codes, spread across the Chinese internet to the world in a matter of days. Within a week of its debut, Manus had attracted a waiting list of around 2 million people.
An intelligent digital agent could be a companion for life—and other predictions for the next 125 years.
