Wayne Chang

Early life

Chang was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and grew up extremely poor on a farm in rural Taiwan. He immigrated to the United States at age 6, still short of cash. He wrote his first software program on the Apple IIe at age 7. While attending a high school in Haverhill, Massachusetts, he was involved with Napster, the first peer-to-peer filesharing platform. In 2005, Newsweek profiled Chang for his abilities in technology.

Education

Chang attended University of Massachusetts Amherst for his undergraduate degree.

In 2003 and 2004, i2hub, created by Wayne in his UMass dorm, became his primary focus. With rapid growth and competition from Facebook, his business overtook academics.

He dropped out of UMass to develop i2hub and went on to invest in and work for more than 40 internet startups, including DraftKings and JetSmarter.

In 2016, Chang was awarded an honorary doctorate by University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was also the featured Commencement Speaker for the 2016 graduating class.

Chang has been involved in various technology projects and communities from a young age. Using the pseudonym "ttol," he contributed to multiple hacking and software-related efforts during his pre-teen and teenage years. Some of his activities include MyAdvantage for which he developed a hack for AllAdvantage, which gained widespread usage among users of the platform. LanCraft; for which he created modifications for Blizzard's Battle.net platform, some of which remain in use today.

Chang was also active in online communities such as EFNet, AOL Warez, and TetriNET, where he collaborated with other developers and enthusiasts on various software and gaming projects.

Reasoner

Chang developed Reasoner as an advanced artificial intelligence system. As his third AI company following Digits and Patented.ai, Reasoner addresses critical challenges in AI, particularly the inaccuracy and "hallucinations" associated with large language models (LLMs). Reasoner builds adaptive, knowledge graphs that automatically reconfigure as information changes. Reasoner’s core technology can be described as a neuro-symbolic AI. Chang plans to release Reasoner’s software development kit in Q1 2024, allowing developers to integrate it into their own applications.

Chang has identified hallucinations—instances where AI generates inaccurate or fabricated information—and lack of explainability as primary barriers to broader AI adoption. Drawing on lessons from his previous ventures, he emphasized the necessity of dependable and traceable AI results, as Traditional systems, he observed, often fail to meet the standards required in sensitive domains. Reasoner addresses these gaps by ensuring outputs are both accurate and verifiable, crucial for enterprise and scientific applications.

Chang envisions Reasoner as a transformative platform for expert applications, solving critical challenges and enabling advancements in science, medicine, and technology.

Facebook, ConnectU, and Winklevoss lawsuits

On December 21, 2009, Chang and The i2hub Organization launched a lawsuit against ConnectU and its founders, seeking 50% of the settlement. The complaint says, "The Winklevosses and Howard Winklevoss filed [a] patent application, U.S. Patent Application No. 20060212395, on or around March 15, 2005, but did not list Chang as a co-inventor." It also states, "Through this litigation, Chang asserts his ownership interest in The Winklevoss Chang Group and ConnectU, including the settlement proceeds." Lee Gesmer of the firm Gesmer Updegrove posted the detailed 33-page complaint online.

On May 13, 2011, it was reported that Judge Peter Lauriat made a ruling against the Winklevosses. The Winklevosses had argued that the court lacks jurisdiction because the settlement with Facebook has not been distributed and therefore Chang hasn't suffered any injury. Chang alleges that he has received nothing in return for the substantial benefits he provided to ConnectU, including the value of his work, as well as i2hub's users and goodwill." Lauriat also wrote that, although Chang's claims to the settlement are "too speculative to confer standing, his claims with respect to an ownership in ConnectU are not. They constitute an injury separate and distinct from his possible share of the settlement proceeds. The court concludes that Chang has pled sufficient facts to confer standing with respect to his claims against the Winklevoss defendants." A settlement was reached where Facebook acquired ConnectU for 1,253,326 shares of Facebook stock and an additional $20 million in cash.