About

Built by educators,
powered by AI

Socrates was created by a small, independent team who believe deep learning shouldn't require a classroom or a fortune. We're building an AI tutor that teaches the way great teachers do: by asking the right questions.

Socrates launched in early 2025 as a research project exploring whether modern language models could deliver genuine Socratic teaching — not just answering questions, but guiding learners to construct understanding through structured dialogue, diagnostic checks, and adaptive pacing.

After months of testing with students across mathematics, programming, philosophy, and the sciences, we opened Socrates to the public. The response confirmed what we suspected: learners craved a tutor that challenged them to think, rather than one that simply handed out answers.

Today Socrates is used by learners in over 40 countries. Our team is a distributed group of five — engineers, educators, and researchers based across China and North America. We are wholly owned and operated by Topodrive, based in Xi'an, China.

5
Team members
40+
Countries with learners

What we believe

Depth over speed
Understanding cannot be rushed. Every concept deserves to be taught from the ground up, layer by layer. We'd rather you learn one thing deeply than skim ten things superficially.
Teaching, not answering
A tutor's job is not to provide answers — it's to ask questions that lead to understanding. Every diagnostic check builds a mental model, not a transcript.
Radical accessibility
Quality education should not require a credit card. The core experience is free forever — bring your own API key and learn without barriers.

Our approach

First principles
Every lesson begins with foundations. Socrates identifies prerequisite concepts, defines terms clearly, and builds upward — never assuming prior knowledge it hasn't verified.
Active recall
Socrates interleaves explanation with diagnostic questions at natural intervals, forcing your brain to retrieve and apply information before it fades.
Adaptive pacing
Mastered a concept? Socrates advances. Struggling? It adapts with alternative explanations and foundational review, all in real time.
“The only true education comes through the stimulation of the learner's own powers. Socrates doesn't fill a bucket — it lights a fire.”
Our adaptation of the Socratic method for AI

Founded 2026 · Shaanxi, Xi'an · China

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