Alibaba’s AI Overhaul Gains Momentum Amid Leadership Shifts

Alibaba Group is accelerating a major strategic realignment of its artificial intelligence division. This push follows the departure of a key architect behind its Qwen language model and comes as initial commercial performance data highlights the division’s critical importance to the conglomerate’s future.

Commercial Traction for Qwen Assistant

The business case for Alibaba’s intensified AI focus is being underscored by tangible user metrics. During a recent two-week promotional period surrounding the Chinese New Year holiday, the Qwen AI assistant processed close to 200 million orders. These requests spanned a wide range of services, including food delivery, flight bookings, and event ticket purchases.

A particularly striking figure emerged from user engagement data: the number of daily active users for the application surged from approximately 17 million prior to the holiday period to 73.5 million. This explosive growth demonstrates the rapid adoption rate of AI-powered shopping assistants within China’s vast e-commerce ecosystem.

Executive Leadership Takes Direct Control

The restructuring was triggered by the resignation of Lin Junyang, the former technical lead for the Qwen models. In response, Alibaba’s top management has assumed direct command. The company has established a high-level task force, which will be steered by Group CEO Eddie Wu, Group CTO Wu Zeming, and Alibaba Cloud CTO Zhou Jingren.

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Zhou Jingren has been given additional responsibility, taking on the direct leadership of the Qwen team and the corporation’s in-house AI research lab, Tongyi. Alibaba has publicly dismissed rumors of a collective resignation within the AI unit. Instead, the firm has committed to increasing its research and development investments and speeding up the recruitment of engineering talent.

Strategic Implications and Market Pressure

The direct involvement of the CEO and both chief technology officers in Qwen’s development sends an unambiguous message: Alibaba is treating its AI infrastructure as a core strategic growth pillar. The objective is to leverage this technology as a key differentiator in both its cloud computing business and its domestic e-commerce operations, where competitive pressures are mounting.

Alibaba’s shares have faced significant headwinds, having shed roughly 29% of their value since hitting a 52-week high in October 2025. The stock currently trades well below its key moving averages. Whether this accelerated AI strategy can provide medium-term stability for the share price will largely depend on two factors: how effectively the new leadership structure executes, and if Qwen’s user growth can be sustained beyond its holiday peak.