AI researcher buys Rs 670 crore California mansion with nine-hole golf course after just 6 years of service

Tony Yuhuai Wu, a China-born artificial intelligence researcher and former xAI founding member, has reportedly bought a luxury mansion in California for US$70 million (around Rs 670 crore), making it one of the state's most expensive home purchases this year. The property, known as Villa de Verano, is spread across 12 acres in Hillsborough near Silicon Valley and comes with a nine-hole golf course, a 150-seat outdoor amphitheatre and a 2,100-gallon saltwater aquarium.

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As per South China Morning Post, the purchase has drawn attention on Chinese social media. However, Wu has not publicly confirmed that he bought the property.

Villa de Verano: A mansion with resort-like features

The Hillsborough estate is far more than a conventional luxury home. Villa de Verano has six bedrooms and sits on a sprawling 12-acre property. Among its unusual features are a private nine-hole golf course, a large outdoor amphitheatre that can accommodate 150 people and a 2,100-gallon saltwater aquarium.

The US$70 million reported price tag places the property among California's biggest residential deals of 2026.

Who is Tony Yuhuai Wu?

Wu built his career in artificial intelligence after starting with mathematics and machine learning. He completed his bachelor's degree in mathematics at the University of New Brunswick in 2015 before pursuing a PhD in machine learning at the University of Toronto.

He completed his doctorate in 2021 under the guidance of Jimmy Ba, an AI researcher who later became part of the founding team at Elon Musk's xAI. Wu had already worked with major AI organisations before joining Musk's venture. He interned at OpenAI and Google's DeepMind and later joined Google as a research scientist in 2021.

In 2023, Wu became one of the founding members of xAI, the AI company established by Musk. He worked on AI systems including Grok, with his research focusing partly on mathematics and machine reasoning.

Wu appeared with Elon Musk during Grok 3 presentation

Wu became more widely known in 2025 after appearing alongside Musk during a livestream presentation of Grok 3. His work centred on improving the ability of AI systems to handle mathematical problems and reason through complex tasks. These areas have become a major focus for AI companies seeking to build increasingly capable models.

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Wu's time at xAI ended in February, following the acquisition of the AI company by SpaceX. The transaction valued SpaceX at US$1 trillion and xAI at US$250 billion. Announcing his departure, Wu wrote on X: “It’s time for my next chapter. It is an era with full possibilities: a small team armed with AIs can move mountains and redefine what’s possible.”

From Hangzhou to Silicon Valley

Wu was born in Hangzhou, China, and moved to Canada while he was still in high school. He later pursued higher education and built his professional career in North America.

His journey also highlights the growing presence of China-born researchers in the US AI industry. Researchers with Chinese academic backgrounds now work at several major AI companies, including OpenAI, Meta and xAI.

According to data from the MacroPolo Global AI Talent Tracker, researchers from China accounted for about 38% of top-tier AI researchers working in the US in 2022. Researchers from the US accounted for about 37% during the same period.