- Junyang Lin resigned as tech lead for Alibaba's main AI platform, Qwen, without explanation
- Alibaba shares dropped up to 4.5% in Hong Kong following Lin's unexpected departure announcement
- Lin led Qwen's AI models, foundational to Alibaba's $53 billion AI growth strategy since 2022
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s chief AI model developer has quit his post, a surprise departure that's raised questions about the Chinese company's pivot to artificial intelligence.
Junyang Lin, who also goes by Justin, announced on X he was stepping down as the tech lead for Qwen, Alibaba's main AI platform. That early morning post triggered a surge of support from the open-source community. "me stepping down. bye my beloved qwen," he wrote on X, without elaborating. Alibaba's shares slid as much as 4.5% in Hong Kong, under-performing the broader market.
Lin is one of the most influential figures in Alibaba's transition to AI, a $53 billion endeavor intended to drive its next phase of growth beyond online commerce. During his tenure, the Qwen models became the foundation for Alibaba's marquee AI app and ranked among the top performers globally.
The reasons behind Lin's exit remain unclear. He had set up a robotics team just last year and been posting updates about Qwen on X just a day before announcing his departure. Lin and Alibaba representatives didn't respond to messages seeking comment.
Lin had been working on building generalist models at Alibaba since 2022. He served as tech lead for the Qwen large language and multimodal model series and oversaw its open-source initiatives, according to his LinkedIn profile. He holds a master's degree from Peking University.
In one of his last public appearances as Qwen head, Lin told a forum in Beijing in January that Chinese companies are unlikely to leapfrog the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic PBC with fundamental breakthroughs in AI over the next three to five years.
"A massive amount of OpenAI's compute is dedicated to next-generation research, whereas we are stretched thin - just meeting delivery demands consumes most of our resources," Lin said at the time.
Alibaba has been among the most aggressive investors in and advocates for AI since DeepSeek fired up the local tech industry. Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu has pledged more than $53 billion toward infrastructure and AI development - an outlay he's said the company could surpass over time.
The company, which also operates a Netflix Inc.-like streaming service and one of China's biggest meal delivery platforms, revamped its mobile app Qwen in November as a major step into consumer-facing AI services. It plans to build the app into an all-around personal assistant by gradually integrating individual services under the Alibaba umbrella.
In January, it linked its flagship online shopping and travel services to Qwen, taking its biggest step yet to build the app into a one-stop artificial intelligence platform for consumers.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
