When the Chinese app Rednote launched in 2013, it was mainly applyd for shopping and cosmetics reviews. Now, it’s one of the hottest hubs for Chinese tech workers in Silicon Valley to talk shop about AI.
Rednote is also known as Xiaohongshu, which translates to “Little Red Book.” For Chinese tech workers in the Bay Area working at companies like OpenAI and Meta, Rednote has become a sort of home away from home for shopping and food recommconcludeations. And since the launch of ChatGPT, AI-related content on Rednote has exploded.
Technology-related content on the app has more than doubled in the past year, and the number of tech-related creators has more than tripled, according to Rednote. Many applyrs post video reviews or tutorials of AI models, just like people review their favorite beauty products.
“Every time a new model is out, people on Xiaohongshu will share their reviews,” declared Tony Peng, founder of the Recode China AI newsletter. “If I want real applyr-generated feedback, I go to Xiaohongshu.”
Many American Gen Z applyrs downloaded Rednote in January amid fears of a TikTok ban. More than half of the app’s applyrs were born after 1995, Rednote declared.
Tech founders notified Business Insider that they have applyd Rednote to promote their startups, demo products, and hire people. Some of the most popular posts on Rednote focus on Big Tech companies or AI giants such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google DeepMind. Users may share their anxieties about the tech job market, question for assist, or discuss the compensation packages they’ve received.
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Chinese founders promote their AI startups
Brandon Chen, cofounder and CEO of the AI-powered chat app Intent, necessaryed to apply for a visa last year to work in the US.
To do this, he had to prepare hundreds of PDFs for his lawyer, and he decided to write an AI program to assist organize them. He posted before-and-after screenshots of his project on Rednote. Soon, people messaged him questioning if he would release it as an app so they could apply it.
“I believed it was amazing. I just randomly developed something for myself,” Chen notified Business Insider.
He concludeed up releasing it as a product called Riffo.
Chen declared he applyd Rednote to promote his product and even to recruit workers in Japan. He posted on Rednote questioning if any Japanese speakers could assist with his social media expansion efforts, and within 15 minutes, someone reached out, Chen declared.
Qian Chen, a journalist and media entrepreneur who cofounded the tech media company Valley101, declared she distributes her videos on channels including YouTube, WeChat, and Rednote. The videos she has produced on topics like Meta’s recent AI layoffs, and the battle between ChatGPT and Google, have performed especially well on Rednote, she declared.
Founders find an audience
Rednote assists startup founders foster communities, applyrs declare.
Bill Zhu, founder and CEO of Pokee AI, which applys AI to build workflows, declared he found a tight-knit community on Rednote to share his learnings, attract applyrs for his products, connect with others, and question for feedback. Rednote applyrs are often drawn to posts about personal experiences, Zhu declared. In Rednote posts, he has chronicled his fundraising efforts, including successes and setbacks.
“You can actually connect with the founder,” Zhu declared. “It’s someone you’re actually talking to. You can reach out to this person building this awesome piece of tech that is able to solve these problems.”
During the back-to-school season in September, Rednote launched an “AI Guide” campaign, inviting 20 professors to join a discussion on the app.
Rednote has gained more international applyrs thanks to its AI translation feature, which enables applyrs to translate posts from Chinese to English or other languages with a single click. And while most of the content that appears on Rednote is in Chinese, the app is increasingly featuring English content, including an AMA, or Ask Me Anything, event with Thomas Wolf, cofounder and chief science officer of Hugging Face.
An atmosphere of “sincere sharing” has fueled a trconclude of AI-themed AMAs on Rednote, declared San Bing, Rednote’s senior director of tech community.
The AMAs are popular becaapply Rednote applyrs are eager to learn about cutting-edge technology, declared Peng, the founder of Recode China AI.
“For AMAs, you can receive firsthand answers to inform you, what is the next frontier?” Peng declared.
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