By Shanghai Newsroom

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Tang Xiaoou, the founder of SenseTime Group, one of China’s biggest artificial intelligence firms, died late on Friday, the company said on Saturday.

Tang, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, started the software development firm, which has grown strongly with public and private demand for its facial recognition technology.

SenseTime said Tang died of an unspecified illness and did not list his age.

“At this sad moment, we express our deepest condolences to Professor Tang’s family!” the company posted on its official WeChat account.

“Professor Tang’s wisdom, passion and endless exploration of science will always inspire us to stay true to our original aspirations and forge ahead.”