(ECNS) -- Tang Xiaoou, founder of Chinese artificial intelligence pioneer SenseTime, died at the age of 55 on Friday, the company announced Saturday.

The cause of his death is unknown so far. 

SenseTime said in an obituary that "Professor Tang's wisdom, passion and endless exploration of science will always inspire us to stay true to our original aspirations and forge ahead."

Tang was known by the industry as the "pioneer" and "pathfinder" of global facial recognition technology.

Born in 1968 in Anshan, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Tang received his bachelor's degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1990, his master's degree from the University of Rochester in 1991.

He began to learn facial recognition algorithms while studying for his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992, and received his doctorate in 1996.

Tang, who was also a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, launched SenseTime in 2014.