Discover how Jiaying Yang evolved from Pinterest ML engineer to BeFreed co-founder, creating AI tools that transform knowledge into engaging visual learning experiences.

From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."
"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."
"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."
"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."
"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."
"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."
"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"
"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."
"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."
"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"
From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco

Nia: Hey Miles, I was scrolling through LinkedIn yesterday and came across this fascinating tech founder named Jiaying Yang. She's the co-founder and CTO of BeFreed, and her background is pretty impressive. Have you heard of her?
Miles: I have! Jiaying Yang is really making waves in the AI learning space. She was at Pinterest for nearly six years as a senior machine learning engineer before co-founding BeFreed. What caught your attention about her?
Nia: Well, I was intrigued by BeFreed's mission. Their tagline is "Turn knowledge into engaging learning," which seems so relevant today when everyone's trying to learn more efficiently. And it looks like they're growing fast—they hit $100,000 in annual recurring revenue just six weeks after enabling their paywall!
Miles: That's impressive growth! You know, what's interesting about Jiaying's background is how she built her expertise in machine learning. At Pinterest, she was specifically working on LLM solutions—large language models like GPT-2—which is exactly the kind of technology that's revolutionizing how we learn and process information.
Nia: Right! And didn't BeFreed recently place as a finalist in some kind of hackathon?
Miles: Exactly. They were named a top 6 finalist at the OpenAI GPT-5 Hackathon, where they built something called a Knowledge Visualizer. The concept is fascinating—it generates explanation videos from scratch for any concept. It's perfect for visual learners who struggle with text-based explanations.
Nia: That makes so much sense. I'm definitely a visual learner myself. So BeFreed is essentially using AI to make learning more engaging and accessible?
Miles: That's the core of it. Let's explore how Jiaying's journey from electrical engineering at Fudan University to machine learning at Pinterest shaped her vision for transforming how we learn in the digital age.