computer science

Megvii

Megvii is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Megvii rather than just read about it. In short: Megvii is a Chinese technology company that designs image recognition and deep-learning software. Based in Beijing, the company develops artificial intelligence (AI) technology for businesses and for the public sector.

Key takeaways

Megvii belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Megvii to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Megvii from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Megvii is a Chinese technology company that designs image recognition and deep-learning software. Based in Beijing, the company develops artificial intelligence (AI) technology for businesses and for the public sector. Megvii is the largest provider of third-party authentication software in the world, and its product, Face++, is the world's largest computer vision platform. In 2019, the company was valued at US$4 billion. As of 2024, the company operates the world's largest computer vision research institute. The company has faced U.S. investment and export restrictions due to allegations of aiding the persecution of Uyghurs in China.

History The company was founded in Beijing with Megvii standing for "mega vision." It was started by Yin Qi and two college friends. The company's core product, Face++, launched in 2012 as the first online facial recognition platform in China. In 2015 Megvii created Brain++, a deep-learning engine to help train its algorithms. Backed by GGV Capital, Megvii raised $100 million in 2016, $460 million in 2017 and $750 million in May 2019. In 2017, Megvii marketed authentication and computational photography functions to smart phone companies and mobile application developers, then smart logistics. Megvii's AI-empowered products include personal IoT, city IoT and supply chain IoT. In 2017 and 2018, Megvii beat Google, Facebook, and Microsoft in tests of image recognition at the International Conference on Computer Vision. By June 2019, Megvii had 2,349 employees, and was valued at over $4 billion, as the "world’s biggest provider of third-party authentication software", with 339 corporate clients in 112 cities in China. The Chinese government employs Megvii software. In May 2019, Human Rights Watch reported finding Face++ code in the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP), a police surveillance app used to collect data on, and track the Uyghur community in Xinjiang. Human Rights Watch released a correction to its report in June 2019 stating that Megvii did not appear to have collaborated on IJOP, and that the Face++ code in the app was inoperable. In March 2020, Megvii announced that it would make its deep learning framework MegEngine open-source. As of 2024, Megvii operates the world's largest computer vision research institute. In July that same year, the company signed a deal with the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area's local government and Geely for AI projects in Chongqing as well as developing internet-connected intelligent cars. Due to its partnership with Geely and being the second largest shareholder at Lifan Technology Group, Yin Qi, Megvii's CEO, was appointed chairman of the board at Lifan.

US sanctions

Megvii was sanctioned by the US government, and placed on the United States Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List on October 9, 2019, due to the use of its technology for human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. In December 2021, the United States Department of the Treasury prohibited all U.S. investment in Megvii, accusing the company of complicity in aiding the persecution of Uyghurs in China. In January 2024, the United States Department of Defense named Megvii on its list of "Chinese Military Companies Operating in the United States." Following US sanctions, GGV Capital announced its intention to divest from Megvii. In 2022, Megvii laid off workers in multiple departments as a response to U.S. sanctions and ongoing tensions between the United States and China.

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Megvii

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Megvii claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Megvii before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Megvii ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Megvii

In research: Megvii appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Megvii in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Megvii is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Artificial intelligence industry in China, Chinese brands, Chinese companies established in 2011, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Megvii outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Megvii in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Megvii means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Megvii out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Megvii in simple terms?

Why does Megvii matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Megvii?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Megvii.