Alibaba rises on AI leadership overhaul, DeepMind hire
Tech giant recruits Google researcher amid intensifying race for artificial intelligence dominance in China
Alibaba Group shares rose in Tuesday trading after the Chinese e-commerce giant disclosed leadership changes at its Qwen artificial intelligence unit and recruited a senior researcher from Google DeepMind, moves aimed at strengthening its position in an increasingly competitive AI landscape.
The stock climbed 1.4% to $132.64, extending premarket gains that reached 2.4%, according to market data. Alibaba's market capitalization stands at approximately $312 billion.
The leadership reshuffle saw the departure of Lin Junyang, who oversaw the development of Qwen3-Max, a large language model with more than 1 trillion parameters. Yu Bowen, head of post-training at the AI unit, also left the company shortly thereafter, according to the Benzinga report.
To bolster its AI capabilities, Alibaba hired Zhou Hao, a former senior staff research scientist at Google DeepMind, to replace Yu Bowen. CEO Eddie Wu addressed the changes in an internal email, confirming that Alibaba Cloud Chief Technology Officer Zhou Jingren will continue leading the Tongyi Laboratory, the company's primary AI research unit.
The personnel moves come as Alibaba intensifies its focus on artificial intelligence, a sector that has become central to the strategy of China's largest technology companies. The Qwen platform has shown significant traction, with daily active users reaching 73.5 million during the Lunar New Year campaign, up from 17 million prior to the holiday period. The application processed nearly 200 million orders in just two weeks during the festival.
Despite Tuesday's gains, Alibaba's stock faces technical challenges. The shares are trading 9.1% below their 20-day simple moving average and 14.8% below the 100-day moving average. The stock's Relative Strength Index stands at 25.64, indicating oversold conditions that could attract bargain hunters. Over the past year, Alibaba shares have gained just 0.08%.
Analysts maintain a largely positive outlook on the stock. The average analyst rating is "Buy" with a price target of $198.59, according to market data. Among the 42 analysts covering the company, 37 rate it a buy or strong buy, while four recommend hold and one advises selling.
Recent analyst actions have been mixed. Citigroup raised its price target to $225 with a buy rating, while Jefferies lowered its target to $225, still maintaining a buy recommendation. Freedom Capital Markets downgraded the stock to hold.
Investors are now looking ahead to Alibaba's earnings report, scheduled for March 19. Analysts expect earnings per share of $1.73, down from the previous year, while revenue is projected to reach $41.26 billion, representing year-over-year growth. The stock's price-to-earnings ratio of 17.2 times suggests a relatively modest valuation compared to many US technology peers.
The AI leadership overhaul reflects broader strategic shifts within Alibaba as the company seeks to revitalize growth after a period of regulatory challenges and economic headwinds in China. Artificial intelligence has emerged as a key competitive battleground, with local rivals including Baidu and ByteDance also investing heavily in large language models and AI-powered services.
Alibaba's cloud computing division, which houses much of its AI research, has been a focus for the company as it seeks to diversify beyond its core e-commerce businesses. The recruitment of talent from leading Western AI labs like Google DeepMind signals the company's ambition to compete at the global level in artificial intelligence development.