BEIJING, March 5, 2026, 18:48 (GMT+8)
- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to launch a new task force focused on accelerating work on “foundation models”—the big AI systems behind chatbots and similar applications.
- Lin Junyang, who had led Alibaba’s Qwen AI model unit, has resigned, prompting the latest move.
- CEO Eddie Wu will coordinate the task force, joined by group CTO Wu Zeming and Alibaba Cloud CTO Zhou Jingren.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd announced Thursday it’s putting together a new task force to speed up work on foundation models, following the resignation of Qwen AI chief Lin Junyang. According to a staff memo, CEO Eddie Wu, group CTO Wu Zeming, and Alibaba Cloud CTO Zhou Jingren will coordinate the initiative and tap resources from across the company. Zhou stays on as head of Tongyi Laboratory, Alibaba’s AI research shop, and the firm promised in the letter to boost funding for AI projects. 1
Alibaba’s reshuffle comes with the company looking to convert the recent buzz over Qwen into something more durable: lasting products, a loyal base of developers, and ultimately, revenue. In China’s AI scene, models evolve quickly—and the teams keep pace.
On Wednesday, Lin announced on X that he was leaving, posting simply, “Bye my beloved Qwen.” He didn’t offer an explanation. That makes him the third top Qwen exec to exit this year. The same day, Yu Bowen — responsible for the post-training phase, where models get fine-tuned after their initial training — also resigned, according to Chinese outlet LatePost. Back in January, staff research scientist Hui Binyuan departed. Requests for comment from Lin, Yu, and Hui went unanswered, and Alibaba declined to comment. Lin’s departure landed just 48 hours after Qwen rolled out new products. Qwen’s mobile app counted 203 million monthly active users in February, rocketing from 31.05 million the previous month. Globally, it now sits at number three, trailing only OpenAI’s ChatGPT and ByteDance’s Doubao, according to AICPB.com. Since 2023, Alibaba has shipped more than 400 open-source Qwen models. Downloads have topped 1 billion. 2
“Foundation models” are massive AI frameworks—these are the backbone for everything from chatbots to code helpers. Training them costs a fortune, and unless you’ve got serious engineering talent and computing resources, making quick upgrades isn’t easy.
Wu, in a staff memo shared with the South China Morning Post, said the task force would “jointly coordinate group-wide resources to accelerate foundational model development.” “In technology, standing still means falling behind,” he wrote. He described foundation models as “a core strategic priority” for Alibaba going forward, saying the company would “uphold our open-source model strategy” as it ramps up AI investment. 3
Here, open-source involves putting out important elements of the model, letting external developers tweak, reuse, or extend it. That can speed up adoption, sure, but it also puts more heat on to deliver updates and maintain buzz with the community.
By moving the CEO and its two leading tech executives to the forefront, Alibaba is making it clear: it wants more direct oversight of model development and integration. The move also sends a message internally, offering reassurance from the top following a stretch of high-level departures.
But it also tightens accountability. More senior exits, or a task force that drags its feet and spreads out responsibility, could sap Alibaba’s momentum—especially with competitors still pulling in new users and launching new features.
