in and out of his life, at one point mording dozens of animals. >> i'm allergic to cats and dogs. i'm sick the entire time. >> reporter: and no one really notices? >> no one noticed. going to school was an escape for me. >> reporter: he discovered a love of computers. his math teacher encouraged him, even helped get his braces fixed. >> i felt like for the first time i wasn't alone. >> reporter: his older brother urged him not just to apply to college but the best schools. >> a switch flipped in my head and i went from thinking why bother to why not? >> reporter: when he was accepted to m.i.t., a high school teacher set up a fund for food. he went on to get his ph.d. at stanford. at 30, investors are pouring millions into his company coactive where he's developing artificial intelligence that will allow anyone to sort through millions of images in seconds. >> it seems like a miracle happened. but at every step of the way it was just kind of these small