Current role: Founder and CEO of Privoce, Inc.
Hometown: Hebei, China
Majors: IMA and Computer Science
Graduating high school in the top 1 percent of his entire city, Su Han opted to attend NYU Shanghai, where he developed a strong interest in new media and technology. He went on to MIT and then turned his graduate school capstone project into reality when he founded his own internet company. This year, he was named Top Under 30 Chinese-American Youth Elites by the Los Angeles Post.
What did you learn at NYU Shanghai that helped shape your career path?
One of the most valuable lessons I learned at NYU Shanghai was critical thinking. I really enjoyed the University's liberal arts education. We all needed to take Global Perspectives on Society as freshmen. I was able to read a lot of books on a wide range of topics, from Western and Chinese philosophy to feminism. It’s an important introductory course that definitely broadened my knowledge and taught me to think critically, ask questions, and discuss with our peers.
Su Han ’18 (first right) with his classmates in a law class taught by President Emeritus of NYU John Sexton (third from left)
Coming from a public high school, I suddenly saw many international faces. We all came from diverse cultural backgrounds. We shared our own experiences with each other, we learned from each other, and we heard each other’s perspectives without judgment. This was something you would only be able to learn at a true global university like NYU Shanghai.
During my study-away at the New York campus, I co-authored an award-winning paper with Associate Professor of Technology Management and Innovation Oded Nov, which examined interface features from users’ perspective research. I also studied at NYU Abu Dhabi learning Arabic and spent another semester in Buenos Aires, where I learned Spanish, volunteered at an NGO to help out local orphans, and studied the internet industry of South America. Study-away experiences were very rewarding because they gave me an opportunity to understand the world better.
Su Han ’18 representing NYU Shanghai at the All NYU commencement at Yankee Stadium.
Tell us about your experience at MIT.
After graduating from NYU Shanghai, I received an offer from MIT’s graduate program in Comparative Media Studies, an interdisciplinary program that teaches graduates how to work and interact with contemporary media. I was fully funded with a research assistant at the Global Media Technologies & Cultures Lab under the supervision of Professor Jing Wang, through which I had the opportunity to act as a mentor for social technology bootcamps in Tanzania and Brazil. Training at MIT, I had a better understanding about how the information world is constructed. I learned both to think like a media theorist and to build a social media app from the ground up. I grew from a student to an independent scholar in two years.
Later, internships at WeChat and Tencent helped me understand better about AI and social media, and realize the importance of data ownership for users. I was inspired and wrote an 80-page long final thesis on this very topic.
Su Han ’18 (first left) presenting a project on deep learning at MIT in 2019
Your thesis inspired you to start your own company. How has it grown? What’s the next step?
I believe that the internet is an open ground. Instead of relying on centralized virtual storage provided by top tech companies, everyone should have their personal cloud space that is secure and private. I founded Privoce, Inc., to re-decentralize the web and empower netizens with true data ownership by making everyone become their own platform. We developed a product called VoceChat, a chat software that supports private self-hosting and local AI chatbots. It allows people to run features on social media platforms such as WeChat, Clubhouse and ChatGPT on their personal cloud.
With VoceChat, in 2021, we raised the first round of funds from venture capital firm ZhenFund, which was founded by one of China's most renowned angel investors Xu Xiaoping. The software has also won in a few university startup competitions including University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. VoceChat has been installed on over 100,000 servers globally and has more than a million users. It is the most popular private chat solution for home clouds (NAS) users.
Technology wise, I believe we’re on the right track. We are currently working on an open-source Matrix server and an open-source local LLM chat. I’m also looking for a new round of funding and collaborators in the AI NAS field.
Any advice for current NYU Shanghai students?
I highly recommend students to try the small wontons at a local Shanghainese breakfast chain called Da Fugui — they use fresh ingredients to hand-wrap wontons every day. As a foodie, I think food is a fantastic way to learn about local culture. Everyone should keep their mind open and go try some local food while they're in Shanghai.