Meet Demi Guo, Harvard graduate behind $470M AI video startup Pika

Pika is revolutionizing the AI video space, offering users the ability to create short AI-generated videos, similar to TikTok, with a few simple prompts, according to Fortune. It allows users to upload a selfie and request a transformation, such as "make me a rock star" or "I’m giving a TED Talk," and the platform generates a complete video with a script, music, dance moves, background, lighting, and camera angles.

In early October Pika launched a new feature, Predictive Video, which predicts movements and interactions, allowing users to integrate themselves or real-world elements into AI-generated scenes. This feature has propelled Pika to the top of both the App Store and Play Store. As of October it boasts 16.4 million users across several creative apps.

"It’s really about self-expression," Guo said. "Most non-professionals will never try to create a film using generative AI, but lots of people like to make short videos."

Pika’s success can largely be attributed to Guo’s leadership skills. She is seen as the next generation of entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, thanks to her innate talent, decisive work ethic, and ability to understand young users' preferences quickly, Fortune noted.

Demi Guo (left) and Chenlin Meng, founders of AI startup Pika. Photo courtesy of Demi Guo's LinkedIn

Guo, born Guo Wenjing in Hangzhou, China, comes from a family with an impressive background. Her mother graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S., and her father, Guo Huaqiang, was the former chairman of Sunyard Technology Group, an IT services company in Hangzhou.

She is seen as a "role model" by Chinese parents due to her impeccable resume and has even been compared to Chinese-American Olympic skiing champion Eileen Gu, according to the South China Morning Post.

Guo won a silver medal at the 2015 International Olympiad in Informatics and was admitted to Harvard University, where she got a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s in computer science. "When I was young I was good at writing and won many awards, but I wasn’t very good at maths," she said.

During her time at Harvard, Guo interned at top tech companies like Microsoft and Google. Afterward she pursued a PhD in computer science at Stanford, focusing on the intersection of natural language processing and graphics. She gained experience at major AI companies such as Meta AI, Google Brain and Microsoft Research, and co-authored a number of scientific papers on AI.

The idea for Pika came from her frustration at the 2022 AI Film Festival in New York City, the U.S., where she and several Stanford PhD classmates participated but did not win. This dissatisfaction with existing video tools led Guo and Chenlin Meng, a fellow PhD student at Stanford’s AI Lab, to develop a better, more user-friendly AI video generation tool.

"If you compare AI-generated videos from last year with those generated this March and those from the past one or two months, you’ll see that video-generation models are developing really fast," Guo said in an interview with Chinese media outlet Overseas Unicorn, explaining why she decided to quit school.

In April 2023 she and Meng dropped out of their Stanford PhD programs to co-found Pika, hoping to create an AI-powered video production tool simple enough for non-professionals to use. Pika quickly gained traction, attracting top investors, including Nat Friedman, former CEO of the software development platform GitHub.

The model impressed investors, and by November 2023 Pika had raised $35 million in its Series A funding round, with Lightspeed Venture Partners leading the investment. "We believe the team has the ability to fully democratize video creation and make it possible for anyone and everyone in the world to contribute to this medium," said Michael Mignano, Lightspeed partner and Pika board member, in a Bloomberg interview.

Pika has raised $135 million so far and is valued at $470 million. The launch of Pika 1.0 not only propelled Guo into the business spotlight but also caused Sunyard Technology’s share price to rise by more than 20% in just one week, earning it the nickname "daughter concept stock."

Pika’s team of 13 executives, including AI experts from Google, Meta and Uber, are working under Guo’s leadership. She serves as the CEO, overseeing product strategy, fundraising and ecosystem development.

Despite facing fierce competition from major AI players such as OpenAI's Sora, Meta’s Vibes and Google’s Veo, Guo believes Pika’s focus on creativity emotional expression, and interaction sets it apart. "We’re trying to build the best video model, but also trying to build a product that’s really serving creators."

In her home country, she is widely admired for her exceptional achievements and background.

An online user said: "Beautiful looks, genius, combined with a ‘remarkable family background’ and a ‘valuation of 3 billion yuan (US$42 million),’ these descriptions are all eye-catching and exemplify the seemingly impossible ‘perfect triangle’ of beauty, wealth, and talent."