BasisAI co-founder speaks out on allegations; another co-founder responds to him

BasisAI co-founders Liu Feng-Yuan (left) and Silvanus Lee / Photo credit: BasisAI

BasisAI co-founder Liu Feng Yuan has responded to Tech in Asia’s article that reported on how Aicadium, a subsidiary of Temasek, has conducted an investigation after receiving a whistleblower complaint relating to his role in staff departures at the firm. Management action was taken after the inquiry.

BasisAI was a startup that was acquired by Aicadium in 2021.

Another BasisAI co-founder, Silvanus Lee, has issued his own statement on Linkedin.

He said that Liu “did not outright deny any wrongdoing, nor clarify if disciplinary actions have been taken by the organization with regards to the matter.” He added that if he was cleared of wrongdoing, he should state that categorically.

What really happened?

Liu said that his advisory role at SPH Media was an unpaid one that was approved by Aicadium. This is in response to Tech in Asia’s previous finding that following the acquisition, he had allegedly introduced a BasisAl engineer to the media company, was involved in recruiting said engineer, and coordinated on the timing of his exit.

“I did not receive any financial benefit from SPH Media,” Liu wrote.

He added that he had personal financial incentives tied to retaining BasisAI employees and had “much to lose” from their departures.

In his statement, Lee added that Liu was in discussions for an executive role with SPH Media in addition to being a technical advisor, and that it was important for founders to “lend their full weight” to support their startups post-acquisition, including in matters of talent retention.

Lee is a tech investor and was formerly the head of engineering at Twitter APAC, engineering director at Uber, and head of data science at Dropbox.

Liu, a President’s Scholar, had a long career as a civil servant prior to starting BasisAI, with stints at the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Land Transport Authority, and GovTech. He is also a commission member at the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore.