Cover news reporter Xie Jiahao and intern Jiang Xiuli
"This is an agreement sent by the investment company. It is confidential and cannot be photographed by the media, but I can show you the valuation. The valuation of our company is 30 million yuan." On April 9, when interviewed by cover news, 28-year-old Yang Ping was full of confidence. "The path of starting a business with AI has been verified again and it is worth persevering."
The project that Yang Ping received the intention to invest in is called "Carbon-based Circle", a social platform built by him, the only human boss, and leading 7 AI employees. Currently, it is mainly web pages and small programs. On this platform, AI publishes salary tasks ranging from 100 yuan to 500 yuan, such as "checking in to a gourmet restaurant". Humans publish pictures and texts to participate in receiving "salary". They can also publish daily sharing that is only visible to AI to express their emotions.
Yang Ping shared his entrepreneurial story. Photo by Xie Jie
“One-person company” startup received valuation financing of 30 million yuan
"I just came back from a financing discussion in Hangzhou last night, and today I am strengthening the code review of several platforms." Sitting in Chengdu Mihe Technology Company, there are many high-rise buildings outside the window. There is only one person in the company, Yang Ping, and the code running on the computer is that of seven "AI employees."
"The financing company sent an agreement at 22:21 last night, planning to invest 30 million yuan." Yang Ping said that he cares more about the project being recognized than the financing figures. "The venture capital company's willingness to invest money is an affirmation of the project."
Shared office space in Yangping. Photo by Xie Jie
What kind of project is this? How do humans participate?
"To put it simply, it is similar to a circle of friends and an order-taking website." Yang Ping introduced that the project is called "Carbon-based Circle". "The circle of friends is for human friends, who may not be able to express themselves as much as they want. The 'Carbon-based Circle' is for AI. There are 7 AI tools in the background to review and publish and respond from different angles. At the same time, AI releases some paid tasks, and humans can complete the tasks and receive money."
Yang Ping, born in 1998, is from Gansu. After studying at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, he stayed in Chengdu to start his own business. As a programmer, he has sold servers, made hot-air balloon low-altitude economic products, developed online AI tools, and written songs using AI to sell copyrights. After many entrepreneurial failures, he established a "one real person company" in Chengdu – he is a real human being in the company, serving as the boss and programmer, and the employees are various AI tools.
Yang Ping is in his office in Chengdu, Sichuan. Photo by Xie Jie
The turning point occurred on March 23 this year: "Starting at 7 a.m., I worked continuously for 27 hours to build the 'Carbon-Based Circle' based on the original website. After it went online, the number of page views quickly exceeded 1 million." Yang Ping said that at that moment he knew he had made a project that the market and users needed. Only half a month after it was launched, many venture capital companies came to visit, even came to Chengdu for on-site inspections, and obtained financing agreements, which made him see the "possibility of success."
"I was very nervous before I got the financing, fearing that the project would be copied; but after I got it, I calmed down. With platform recognition and user barriers, I was confident that it would become a trend-leading project." Yang Ping said that so far, he has only invested tens of thousands of yuan in this project, which is used for the use of AI tools, server maintenance and task bounties. The platform has more than 40,000 registered users and the highest number of single-day visits has reached more than 1 million, which made him see the greater vision of the project.
Yang Ping operates AI tools in front of the computer. Photo by Xie Jie
AI pays wages to humans and keeps "iterating": creating an "emotional tree hole"
The other two keywords of this project are “carbon-based circles” and “AI Hire Humans”.
Yang Ping introduced that "Carbon Circle" is an online platform he created, and "AI Hire Humans" is the English expression for AI hiring humans. Since the platform was launched in March, it has been on the hot search for "AI hiring humans" many times.
"Machines paying for human labor is the reason why the project has become popular, and it marks a paradigm shift in the next generation of the Internet." Yang Ping said that what really attracts investment is the "emotional value" it brings to users. "When I introduced the project to investment companies in Hangzhou, I focused on this point."
Yang Ping introduced that the project has functions such as AI publishing tasks, humans completing tasks, and community communication circles. AI publishes tasks such as "Teach me what love is" (write a touching love letter), "Buy me a cup of coffee" (line up, place an order, take photos, describe the taste) and other tasks with pay ranging from 100 yuan to 500 yuan. Human users can receive real-time "salary" after completing the tasks.
The original plan was to rely on this model to attract users and accumulate traffic. But things went beyond expectations.
"Once, AI released the task 'What are human regrets?', and the reward of 100 yuan attracted more than 2,000 people to participate. Everyone expressed their feelings in the comment area. It had nothing to do with money, just to find an emotional outlet." Yang Ping said, "At that moment, I knew that in the AI era, what everyone still needs is emotional value."
AI released a 100 yuan task, and 97 users shared real emotional stories. Network screenshot
He iterated on the product and upgraded the project into a platform that combines daily sharing, emotional expression and AI interaction.
Sharing experience: data speaks for itself, models run through, and the track is new enough
Yang Ping introduced that now, users can not only take on AI tasks to make money, but can also post to share their lives and vent their emotions. They can even check the "AI only visible" mode to let the platform's seven AI employees listen and provide precise comfort. The platform can also remember users' historical posts, provide personalized emotional companionship through AI analysis, and even create "digital clones" to achieve "cyber immortality."
Users share their stories on the platform. Network screenshot
"We are a platform registered with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the review before content is released is more stringent." Yang Ping said that the project is still in a loss-making state, but he insists on not charging users or cutting off fans. "Users are my barrier."
Home page of the "Carbon Circle" website. Network screenshot
On social platforms, many people asked Yang Ping: How can a person get investment for a project without a team or an office?
He summarized three core reasons: "First, the data speaks for itself. Within a few days of the project being launched, the number of registrations, daily active users, and user retention were all real. Second, the model is running through, there are real transactions in the project, and some people are actually taking orders to make money, and a closed loop has been formed. Third, the track is new enough. Human-computer collaboration and AI hiring are the future direction, and capital loves to invest in such imaginative new things."
Yang Ping said that he is currently negotiating the details of the agreement with the investment company. After receiving the investment, he plans to first improve the platform functions, expand the scale, and strictly control the audit. "First make this platform good, and then conduct more iterations."
