Wedoany.com Report on Mar 6th, A recent high-profile personnel change in China's large AI model sector has sparked a cross-border talent acquisition episode. Just as the core leader of Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) team confirmed his departure, a relevant executive from the world-leading AI lab Google DeepMind swiftly took to social media, publicly extending an olive branch to the Qwen team in an effort to attract this technically influential force in the open-source model domain.
This "public call-out" occurred on the afternoon of March 5th. Omar Sanseviero, a relevant leader from the Google DeepMind development team, directly addressed the Qwen team on social media, earnestly stating: "If you are looking for a new place to continue building great models and contributing to the open model ecosystem, please reach out! We have a lot of exciting things on our roadmap and a lot of work to do in the future." This public invitation quickly spread within the industry, seen as high recognition of the Alibaba Tongyi team's technical prowess and reflecting the intense competition among global AI giants for top talent.
The source of this personnel upheaval can be traced back to the previous day. In the early hours of March 4th, Lin Junyang, the technical lead for Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen large model, posted a brief farewell on social media: "me stepping down. bye my beloved qwen.", marking the first public confirmation of his impending departure. That same day, he addressed the resignation again on his private social feed, his tone conveying exhaustion and trust in his team. He wrote: "Sorry friends, I won't be replying to messages or calls today, I really need to rest. Qwen brothers, keep working according to the original plan, it will be fine." This statement both confirmed his personal departure and attempted to allay external concerns about the continuity of the Tongyi Qianwen project.
Facing the departure of a core technical leader and the ensuing public concern, Alibaba Group responded swiftly. On the morning of March 5th, Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu issued an internal email formally addressing the matter. The email content revealed that the company had approved Lin Junyang's resignation and expressed gratitude for his contributions to the Tongyi Qianwen project during his tenure. More crucially, Wu outlined the subsequent organizational structure and safeguards in the email to ensure the Qwen R&D process remains unaffected. According to the arrangement, the Tongyi Lab will continue to be led by its head, Jingren Zhou, to ensure a smooth transition in model development and business advancement.
Simultaneously, to further strengthen top-level support for foundational model R&D, Alibaba has newly established a "Foundation Model Support Team." This team is personally led by Eddie Wu, jointly overseen by Jingren Zhou and Yu Fan, with its core responsibility being the direct coordination of key strategic resources across the group—such as computing power, talent, and funding—focusing on breakthrough innovations in large model technology. The establishment of this high-level resource coordination team is interpreted by external observers as a clear signal from Alibaba of its continued investment in the large model battlefield, stabilizing morale and seeking technological supremacy.
