Jiankai Sun AI / Systems
Seattle, WA · Pinterest MLE

Jiankai Sun

Machine Learning Engineer at Pinterest · Ph.D. in Computer Science (The Ohio State University)

I am a Machine Learning Engineer at Pinterest. Previously, I was a Research Scientist at ByteDance AML-US in Seattle. I obtained my Ph.D. in Computer Science from The Ohio State University, advised by Prof. Srinivasan Parthasarathy.

My research and engineering focus centers on Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning (Federated Learning, Split Learning, Data Clean Rooms), Large-Scale Recommender Systems (Ads ranking, decoupled representation learning, retrieval), Graph Representation Learning, and Large Language Models & Alignment (code generation, proxy fairness). Outside of work, I love vibe coding indie mobile apps, traditional board games, and local-first utilities.

1,639
Citations
20
h-index
23
i10-index
50+
Publications & Patents

Core Research Themes

Scientific and algorithmic focus areas. Click any theme to explore corresponding publications.

01 / PRIVACY 12 papers

Federated & Split Learning

Two-party split learning label protection, cross-silo differential privacy, data clean rooms, and vertical federated learning.

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02 / RECSYS 7 papers

Recommender Systems

Decoupled representation learning for ads ranking, end-to-end retrieval, machine unlearning, and diversified item ranking.

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03 / GRAPHS 8 papers

Graph Representation

Directed graph embedding with asymmetric transitivity preservation, cycle breaking in noisy hierarchies, and cold-start routing.

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04 / LLMS 3 papers

LLMs & AI Alignment

Improving LLM code generation through print debugging, proxy fairness with missing sensitive attributes, and self-refinement.

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Vibe Coding & Indie Software

Handcrafted native iOS apps, board game engines, and local-first personal utilities.

FolkBoardGames Game Suite

Traditional folk board game suite (Ou-Zi Qi, Mi-Zi Qi, Xia-Shi Qi, Fang Qi). Zero-latency canvas rendering, offline AI engine, and interactive rules.

iOS App WeChat MiniGame Canvas AI
TinyTasteBook iOS App

Baby solids & allergy tracker designed with Swift & SwiftUI. Local-first architecture, zero analytics tracking, clear pediatric timeline, and clean reactions journal.

SwiftUI Local-First Privacy
HoiBaby iOS Utility

Infant feeding routine tracker with iOS 17 Interactive Widgets and Live Activities. One-tap nursing timers, formula logs, and daily rhythm insights.

WidgetKit Live Activity Swift
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ICLR 2022

Label Leakage and Protection in Two-party Split Learning

250 cites
O Li, J Sun, W Gao, H Zhang, X Yang, J Xie, C Wang
ICLR 2022, 2020
TL;DR: Demonstrates gradient inversion label leakage in vertical split learning and designs the Marvell noise defense mechanism to preserve privacy without degrading utility.
#Split Learning#Label Leakage#Gradient Defense
WSDM 2023

Dgrec: Graph neural network for recommendation with diversified embedding generation

217 cites
L Yang, S Wang, Y Tao, J Sun, X Liu, PS Yu, T Wang
Proceedings of the sixteenth ACM international conference on web search and …, 2023
TL;DR: Diversified graph embedding generation for mitigating filter bubbles in user-item recommendation graphs.
#Graph Neural Networks#Embedding Diversification#RecSys
2017

Learning to recommend accurate and diverse items

181 cites
P Cheng, S Wang, J Ma, J Sun, H Xiong
Proceedings of the 26th international conference on World Wide Web, 183-192, 2017
2018

Semi-supervised embedding in attributed networks with outliers

140 cites
J Liang, P Jacobs, J Sun, S Parthasarathy
Proceedings of the 2018 SIAM international conference on data mining, 153-161, 2018
CIKM 2021

Learning an end-to-end structure for retrieval in large-scale recommendations

75 cites
W Gao, X Fan, C Wang, J Sun, K Jia, W Xiao, R Ding, X Bin, H Yang, X Liu
Proceedings of the 30th ACM international conference on information …, 2021
#Retrieval Indexing#End-to-End Learning#Recommendation Systems
AAAI 2019

ATP: Directed Graph Embedding with Asymmetric Transitivity Preservation

69 cites
J Sun, B Bandyopadhyay, A Bashizade, J Liang, P Sadayappan, ...
The Thirty-Third AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2019), 2018
TL;DR: Preserves high-order directed reachability and transitivity via asymmetric non-linear dual-vector projections.
#Directed Graph Embedding#Asymmetric Transitivity#Non-linear Mapping
ACM TIST 2014

Vsrank: A novel framework for ranking-based collaborative filtering

66 cites
S Wang, J Sun, BJ Gao, J Ma
ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (TIST) 5 (3), 1-24, 2014
#Collaborative Filtering#Ranking Optimization#Vector Space Model
WebSci 2017

Breaking cycles in noisy hierarchies

64 cites
J Sun, D Ajwani, PK Nicholson, A Sala, S Parthasarathy
Proceedings of the 2017 ACM on web science conference, 151-160, 2017
TL;DR: Approximation algorithm resolving minimal feedback arc sets in web and noisy social hierarchies.
#Noisy Hierarchies#Cycle Breaking#Social Graphs
2022

Differentially private label protection in split learning

62 cites
X Yang, J Sun, Y Yao, J Xie, C Wang
arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.02073, 2022
2022

Label leakage and protection from forward embedding in vertical federated learning

62 cites
J Sun, X Yang, Y Yao, C Wang
arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.01451, 2022
2021

Vertical federated learning without revealing intersection membership

52 cites
J Sun, X Yang, Y Yao, A Zhang, W Gao, J Xie, C Wang
arXiv preprint arXiv:2106.05508, 2021
ICML 2023

Weak proxies are sufficient and preferable for fairness with missing sensitive attributes

44 cites
Z Zhu, Y Yao, J Sun, H Li, Y Liu
International Conference on Machine Learning, 43258-43288, 2023
TL;DR: Proves that weak proxy representations achieve Pareto-optimal algorithmic fairness when sensitive attributes are unobserved.
#AI Fairness#Weak Proxies#Sensitive Attributes
arXiv 2024

Leveraging print debugging to improve code generation in large language models

40 cites
X Hu, K Kuang, J Sun, H Yang, F Wu
arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.05319, 2024
TL;DR: Proposes LDB (Large Language Model Debugger), enabling LLMs to segment, trace, and verify variable execution states like human developers.
#LLM Code Generation#Print Debugging#Self-Refinement
FL-ICML 2021

Defending against Reconstruction Attack in Vertical Federated Learning

40 cites
J Sun, Y Yao, W Gao, J Xie, C Wang
FL-ICML 2021, 2021
#Vertical FedLearning#Reconstruction Attack#Feature Encryption
CIKM 2012

Learning to rank for hybrid recommendation

36 cites
J Sun, S Wang, BJ Gao, J Ma
Proceedings of the 21st ACM international conference on Information and …, 2012
#Hybrid Recommendations#Learning to Rank#Feature Fusion
2018

QDEE: Question Difficulty and Expertise Estimation in Community Question Answering Sites

35 cites
J Sun, S Moosavi, R Ramnath, S Parthasarathy
The International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM 2018), 2018
CIKM 2012

Adapting vector space model to ranking-based collaborative filtering

34 cites
S Wang, J Sun, BJ Gao, J Ma
Proceedings of the 21st ACM international conference on Information and …, 2012
#Vector Space Model#CF Ranking#Implicit Feedback
2020

EndCold: An End-to-End Framework for Cold Question Routing in Community Question Answering Services

28 cites
J Sun, J Zhao, H Sun, S Parthasarathy
The Twenty-Ninth International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence …, 2020
NeurIPS W 2022

Netflix and forget: Efficient and exact machine unlearning from bi-linear recommendations

26 cites
M Xu, J Sun, X Yang, K Yao, C Wang
arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.06676, 2023
TL;DR: Provable exact machine unlearning algorithm removing user interaction data from bilinear recommendation models with minimal retraining.
#Machine Unlearning#Recommendation Privacy#Bi-linear Models
ECML PKDD 2018

ColdRoute: effective routing of cold questions in stack exchange sites: J. Sun et al.

26 cites
J Sun, A Vishnu, A Chakrabarti, C Siegel, S Parthasarathy
Data mining and knowledge discovery 32 (5), 1339-1367, 2018
#Cold-Start Routing#Factorization Machines#Stack Exchange
2023

Label inference attack against split learning under regression setting

20 cites
S Xie, X Yang, Y Yao, T Liu, T Wang, J Sun
arXiv preprint arXiv:2301.07284, 2023
AAAI 2023

DPAUC: Differentially Private AUC Computation in Federated Learning

14 cites
J Sun, X Yang, Y Yao, J Xie, D Wu, C Wang
The Thirty-Seventh AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2023 …, 2022
TL;DR: Formulates differentially private pairwise ranking loss optimization with DP-SGD for cross-silo advertising conversion.
#Federated Learning#Differential Privacy#AUC Optimization
CIKM 2023

PSLF: defending against label leakage in split learning

13 cites
X Wan, J Sun, S Wang, L Chen, Z Zheng, F Wu, G Chen
Proceedings of the 32nd ACM International Conference on Information and …, 2023
TL;DR: Proposes perturbation mechanisms for intermediate representations to neutralize gradient inversion attacks in split networks.
#Split Learning#Adversarial Defense#Feature Obfuscation
2022

Differentially private AUC computation in vertical federated learning

8 cites
J Sun, X Yang, Y Yao, J Xie, D Wu, C Wang
arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.12412, 2022
RecSys 2024

Privacy Preserving Conversion Modeling in Data Clean Room

7 cites
K Li, X Chen, L Leng, J Xu, J Sun, B Rezaei
Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Recommender Systems, 819-822, 2024
TL;DR: Architects an end-to-end framework enabling multi-party ad attribution and CTR modeling within secure clean rooms.
#Data Clean Room#Privacy-Preserving ML#Conversion Modeling
KDD 2023

Graph-based model-agnostic data subsampling for recommendation systems

7 cites
X Chen, J Sun, T Wang, R Guo, LP Liu, A Zhang
Proceedings of the 29th ACM SIGKDD conference on knowledge discovery and …, 2023
TL;DR: Graph topological subsampling enabling extreme throughput and training speedup on massive recommender datasets.
#Graph Subsampling#Efficiency#Recommendation Scale
2022

Differentially private multi-party data release for linear regression

4 cites
R Wu, X Yang, Y Yao, J Sun, T Liu, KQ Weinberger, C Wang
arXiv preprint arXiv:2206.07998, 2022
2022

Netflix and Forget: Fast Severance From Memorizing Training Data in Recommendations

3 cites
M Xu, J Sun, X Yang, Y Yao, C Wang
NeurIPS ML Safety Workshop, 2022
2018

Symmetrization for Embedding Directed Graphs

3 cites
J Sun, S Parthasarathy
The Thirty-Third AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI 2019), 2018
RecSys 2025

Decoupled Entity Representation Learning for Pinterest Ads Ranking

2 cites
J Liu, Y Li, J Sun, K Li, H Sun, S Wang, H Wu, S Gao, P Soares, N Li, Z Liu, ...
Proceedings of the Nineteenth ACM Conference on Recommender Systems, 940-944, 2025
TL;DR: Decouples query and pin entity embeddings to scale real-time retrieval across billions of candidates in Pinterest Ads.
#Ads Ranking#Decoupled Representation#Large-Scale RecSys
2022

Evaluating fairness without sensitive attributes: A framework using only auxiliary models

1 cites
Z Zhu, Y Yao, J Sun, Y Liu, H Li
2019

Directed Graph Analysis: Algorithms and Applications

J Sun
The Ohio State University, 2019
Patent

Unlearning of recommendation models

2 cites
SUN Jiankai, X Xu, X Yang, Y Yao, C Wang
US Patent 12,670,435, 2026
Patent

Data subsampling for recommendation systems

1 cites
A Zhang, SUN Jiankai, R Guo, W Taiqing, X Chen
US Patent 12,651,208, 2026
Patent

Data protection method, apparatus, medium and electronic device

1 cites
SUN Jiankai, X Yang, A Zhang, GAO Weihao, J Xie, C Wang
US Patent 12,455,972, 2025
Patent

Methods, apparatuses, devices and medium for model performance evaluation

1 cites
SUN Jiankai, X Yang, C Wang, J Xie, D Wu
US Patent App. 18/865,581, 2025
Patent

Data processing for release while protecting individual privacy

1 cites
X Yang, Y Yao, T Liu, J SUN, C Wang, R Wu
US Patent 12,423,463, 2025
Patent

Data protection method, training method and apparatus for network structure, medium, and device

1 cites
SUN Jiankai, GAO Weihao
US Patent App. 18/565,015, 2024
Patent

Method, apparatus, device and medium for protecting sensitive data

1 cites
X Yang, J Xie, Y Yao, C Wang
US Patent App. 18/539,851, 2024
Patent

Data protection method, apparatus, medium and device

1 cites
SUN Jiankai, GAO Weihao, LIU Xiaobing, LI Runliang
US Patent App. 18/252,559, 2024
Patent

Method and apparatus for training item coding model

1 cites
GAO Weihao, FAN Xiangjun, SUN Jiankai, LIU Xiaobing
US Patent 11,763,204, 2023
Patent

Method and apparatus for protecting data, and device and medium

SUN Jiankai, X Yang, Y Yao, J Xie, C Wang
US Patent 12,688,322, 2026
Patent

Methods, apparatuses, devices and medium for model performance evaluation

SUN Jiankai, X Yang, C Wang, J Xie, D Wu
US Patent App. 18/865,611, 2025
Patent

Model performance evaluating methods, apparatuses, device and storage medium

SUN Jiankai, X Yang, C Wang, J Xie, D Wu
US Patent App. 18/839,702, 2025
Patent

Method, apparatus, device, and medium for action execution

XU Anran, S Wang, L Chen, S Li, SUN Jiankai, Z ZHENG, F Wu
US Patent App. 18/623,714, 2024
Patent

Method and apparatus for data protection, readable medium and electronic device

X Yang, SUN Jiankai, GAO Weihao, J Xie, C Wang
US Patent App. 18/565,000, 2024
Patent

Determining online classifier performance via normalizing flows

X Yang, ZHU Hanlin, T Liu, SUN Jiankai, Y Yao, A Zhang, C Wang
US Patent App. 17/953,255, 2024
Patent

Label inference in split learning defenses

XIE Shangyu, SUN Jiankai, W Taiqing
US Patent App. 18/149,462, 2023
Patent

Diversifying recommendations by improving embedding generation of a graph neural network model

Y Liangwei, S Wang, Y Tao, SUN Jiankai, W Taiqing
US Patent App. 17/985,788, 2023
Patent

Data protection method and apparatus, and server and medium

SUN Jiankai, GAO Weihao, LIU Xiaobing
US Patent App. 17/816,250, 2022
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