Founded in 2015, Soul App has traversed nearly a decade of development under the leadership of founder Zhang Lu’s team. In 2025, Shanghai Soulgate Technology Co., Ltd. (Soul) was named one of Pudong’s “Top Ten Leading Cultural and Creative Enterprises” — an honor that not only recognizes its contributions to the digital cultural and creative sector but has also prompted renewed attention toward this company that has spent a decade deeply engaged with Gen Z social networking.
Against this backdrop, during the Oriental Financial Pudong Channel’s “Entering the Leading Zone: Exploring New Cultural Frontiers” interview series, Soul App CTO Tao Ming was invited for an in-depth conversation with host Jin Tianwei about the fundamental relationship between AI and social interaction, revealing the key factors behind Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team maintaining steady growth amid technological disruption.
Tao Ming began the interview by discussing Soul’s observations of young people. Soul’s Just So Soul Research Institute publishes annual reports on youth social trends. Rather than pursuing grand narratives, these reports focus on the social habits and psychological needs of young people at different life stages. The reports indicate that while different generations exhibit distinct behavioral patterns and social needs, emotional value has consistently remained a fundamental requirement. Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team has developed a variety of AI features, but all technological applications revolve around a single objective: facilitating connection between people.
In terms of AI technology strategy, Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team has not blindly pursued technology for its own sake, but has insisted on taking social scenarios as the guiding framework. Tao Ming explained that many AI companies face the dilemma of “having a hammer and looking for nails,” whereas Soul possesses natural social application scenarios, meaning its technology development has always been centered on actual user needs. Specifically, Soul’s AI applications operate on three levels: first, using AI large language models to more precisely understand user needs and achieve higher-quality matching; second, developing AI-assisted tools and AI companions to help users express themselves more effectively; and third, deploying AI podcasts, AI hosts, and AI moderators in group chat rooms and other settings to manage topics and trending discussions through technology.
In Soul’s voice group chat rooms and interactive settings, the introduction of AI hosts, AI podcasts, and similar features has not diluted the atmosphere of real human interaction — rather, these elements have served as catalysts. Tao Ming explained that many users encounter a significant challenge in self-expression when entering unfamiliar social environments. AI technology can assist these users with expression, help them build confidence, and enable them to experience positive flow states during interactions, giving them the courage to take the first step toward communicating with a “Soulmate.” Data shows that under the user-created “Civil Affairs Bureau” tag on Soul’s platform, more than 100,000 couples have established real-world marriages through the platform — further confirming Soul’s effectiveness in promoting authentic social connections.
Reflecting on Soul’s nearly decade-long development in Pudong, Tao Ming noted that every step of Soul’s growth has benefited from regional support. On one hand, Pudong has provided direct assistance in areas such as AI computing resources, policy support, and research initiatives. On the other hand, Pudong’s abundant talent pool and industry synergies have enabled the integration of upstream and downstream links in the digital cultural and creative value chain. It is precisely through the continuous understanding of young people, scenario-driven application of AI technology, and long-term commitment to authentic social relationships that Soul has maintained a stable growth trajectory over the past decade. In 2024, Soul was also recognized by Global Times with the “Outstanding Case of New Quality Productive Forces in Industrial Practice” award, further affirming its exploratory achievements in the convergence of AI and social networking.
Starting from the honor of being named one of Pudong’s Top Ten Leading Cultural and Creative Enterprises and extending to its continued deep engagement in the AI social networking space, the decade-long practice of Soul founder Zhang Lu’s team reveals a clear path: technology has never been an end in itself, but rather a means of understanding young people and responding to their emotional needs. As the wave of AI large models surges forward, the innovations with true staying power are not defined by the stacking of parameters, but by whether they remain faithful to the original mission of serving people.