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Alibaba names AI-lab leader Zhou Jingren as new group partner

He will join the 17-member Alibaba Partnership, which steers the company’s course and includes co-founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai

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Alibaba’s Zhou Jingren speaks during a summit in Hong Kong on November 13, 2023. Photo: May Tse
Wency Chenin Shanghai
Alibaba Group Holding named its cloud unit’s technology officer Zhou Jingren, who also leads its artificial intelligence lab Tongyi and the development of its Qwen AI models, as a new member of the group in charge of steering the business empire, according to people briefed about the decision.
Alibaba has not updated the information on its official website. The Alibaba Partnership had 17 members before the addition, including co-founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai as permanent ones.

Alibaba did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Wednesday. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

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According to Alibaba’s website, a partner must have a high standard of personal character and integrity, as well as at least five years of continued service with Alibaba and a track record of contribution to its business.

Zhou is a renowned scientist in cloud computing and has served at Alibaba for more than a decade, following an 11-year stint at Microsoft.

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He joined the company in 2015 as a vice-president and went on to oversee several core technical divisions, including big data and AI computing, search and recommendation systems on e-commerce platforms, and advertising technology.

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