Innovationism: A New Philosophy for the Age of AI with James Liang

Fresh out of the studio, James Liang — Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Trip.com Group, economist, and author of Innovationism: A New Philosophy for the Age of AI — joins us to explore what becomes of human meaning when AI does the work. James argues that innovation and heritage are "the same coin": innovation measured by how much heritage it leaves behind. He unpacks why the individual, not the nation or firm, is the binding constraint on innovation, why aging societies stop producing startups, and how his Nature 2024 hybrid-work study reframes family-friendly policy as economically rational. Closing the conversation, James explains why he is bullish on China mid-term but bearish long-term — and why population, not chips, is the real race.

"To innovate and to innovate successfully is measured by how much heritage you generate. But you know what's a good innovation? What's innovation can have a lasting impact? In my definition, the good news is it's going to last." - James Liang

Episode Highlights:
[00:00] Quote of the Day by James Liang, Chairman of Trip.com Group
[01:06] Introduction: James Liang
[03:18] Stepping down twice — the mobile wave he didn't see
[05:57] Founder mode and returning to lead Trip.com
[07:31] Three life lessons: a rich life, experience, family
[09:44] Innovationism — why the book opens with his daughter
[11:24] Core tenets: innovation and heritage as one coin
[14:38] Innovation as writing a company's cultural values
[16:00] What heritage really means
[17:32] Distil to simplicity; learn more in the age of AI
[19:00] The Nature 2024 hybrid-work experiment
[19:44] Triple-win policies: employee, company, society
[22:52] Innovation capacity — neurons, scale, connection
[25:37] Three levels: nation, firm, individual
[29:00] Why innovation cannot be planned top-down
[30:21] Japan's missing startups; Korea and China compared
[32:14] Hierarchy, vested interests, and blocked young talent
[33:17] AI and moats — operators and the physical world
[35:36] Education reform — stop filtering children too early
[37:31] College as universal general education
[40:00] Understanding still matters in the age of AI
[41:46] What readers won't pick up from the page
[42:14] The AI end game — master, child, or pet
[43:27] Population as the safeguard against losing control
[45:14] Technology ethics at the frontier
[46:01] Longevity, fresh blood, and stagnation
[49:19] Interstellar trips as Trip.com's next frontier
[49:41] The biggest misconceptions about China's innovation
[50:36] The big-country advantage in digital technology
[52:23] Electric cars, life science, three times the talent
[54:16] The China–US race — researchers as the real bottleneck
[56:38] Why blocking China hurts the US more
[57:42] The question James wishes people would ask
[59:25] Success for innovationism — relax, travel, have children
[61:22] Closing

Profile: James Liang, Co-founder, Executive Chairman of the Board, Trip.com Group and Author of "Innovationism: A New Philosophy for the Age of AI"

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-liang-tripgroup/

Trip.com Group: https://investors.trip.com/board-member/james-jianzhang-liang

Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format.