Reporting for NUPIAO | By our tech correspondent
On June 22, we learned that Alibaba Partner and Amap Chairman Liu Zhenfei took to the company’s internal forum with a piece titled “Only With Seedlings in Hand Can You Guarantee Grain in the Future.” It was a candid look at a recent hands-on rice transplanting retreat hosted by Alibaba’s leadership in Hangzhou.
Liu shared, “A few days ago in Hangzhou, we teamed up with colleagues to try transplanting rice ourselves. After a whole morning of hustle, this group of over a dozen people managed to plant half an acre—and let’s just say, the rows were far from straight!” Photos from the day show quite a few heavy hitters from Alibaba showing up. Jack Ma, Eddie Wu, Xuanshao Feng, Fred Jiang, Zach Wu, and Fang Jiang were all there. Ant Group Chairman Jing Xiandong and CEO Han Xinyi jumped in too.
“The farming lesson here is pretty straightforward: when planting season hits, you plant. When things get tough, you stick it out. If you tend to your soil well, pick the best seedlings, and put genuine care into every single step, just leave the rest to time—the land will never let you down,” Liu explained.
Worth highlighting? Alibaba’s Chief Scientist, Zhou Jingren, was spotted right there on the muddy fields, which pretty much puts the breaking-leaving-rumors to rest.
Rumors started swirling around mid-June across various platforms, claiming Zhou had already handed in his resignation and was packing his bags. This came hot on the heels of Alibaba’s mid-June AI restructuring. His Tongyi large model division was split off and moved under Eddie Wu’s direct supervision. Meanwhile, Zhou got promoted to Group Chief Scientist and tapped to lead the newly formed AI Future Research Institute. To some observers, it felt like a classic “promotion on paper, pull-back in reality” move, sparking guesses that he’d lost interest.
But come June 14, Alibaba stepped in and shut it down flat-out. The company clarified that talk of Zhou’s resignation is completely baseless, adding, “We’ve noticed some individuals actively spreading these rumors online lately, and we strongly urge everyone to stop sharing unverified information.”
For those keeping track of his background, public records show Zhou cut his teeth at USTC before grabbing a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Columbia back in 2004. He spent years at Microsoft Research working his way up to R&D Partner, finally joining Alibaba full-time in 2015. Over the next decade, he built the foundational compute layer for Alibaba Cloud, shaped DAMO Academy’s early tech stack, and took the helm on Qwen’s development in 2022. Honestly, he’s one of the main architects behind Alibaba’s end-to-end AI strategy.
In December 2025, Zhou officially made the cut as an Alibaba Partner, stepping right into the company’s innermost decision-making circle. The FY2025 annual report actually shows the Partner team was trimmed down from 26 to 17. Getting this title isn’t easy—you need five-plus years at the firm, a deep alignment with their culture, a proven track record of driving growth, and a real commitment to passing the torch. Oh, and you’ll still need approval from at least 75% of existing Partners to seal the deal.
Then last week, Alibaba dropped its FY2026 financial report, and Zhou’s name was proudly listed among current Partners, holding the Senior VP title. Looking at the roster changes, Executive VP and Risk Management Committee Chair Xuanshao Feng has stepped off the list, while Group CFO Xu Hong joined as a brand-new Partner.
All signs point to Alibaba going all-in on AI right now. During the Q4 FY2026 earnings call, CEO Eddie Wu laid out some serious numbers, hinting that infrastructure spending for AI over the next five years is set to blow past the 380 billion mark. They’re even exploring partnerships to co-develop data centers, potentially leveraging sales of T-Head AI servers to make it happen.
Back on May 20, Chairman Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu rolled out a joint letter to shareholders. The message was clear: Alibaba’s AI venture has graduated from the cash-burn phase and is officially entering its commercialization cycle. “Riding on our talent pool, technical edge, and resource backing, we’re fully confident in capitalizing on this moment. Our goal is to turn AI + Cloud into Alibaba’s next major growth engine. To pull this off, we’re cranking up investment across the board—from beefing up AI infrastructure and homegrown chips to supercharging our base models. We’re also pushing harder on MaaS solutions to bridge models and apps faster and smarter than ever.”
This massive push into AI is running parallel to a serious internal culture reckoning. Remember that viral 75,000-word resignation essay, “Trapped Inside DingTalk”? It tore the lid off issues like toxic high-pressure management, soul-crushing overtime, and pointless internal friction during AI project rollouts. Naturally, it sent shockwaves through the industry, forcing everyone to take a hard look at how big tech actually manages their AI squads.
With the conversation heating up, Alibaba’s highest governing body—the Partner Committee—dropped an internal memo on June 10 titled “True Alibaba Culture Means Heart, Loyalty, and Growth.” They didn’t mince words when addressing the management chaos described in that viral post.
The committee was crystal clear: “Under no circumstances, no matter how tight the deadlines, should teams resort to the management style highlighted in the post. That approach never aligned with what Alibaba stands for, and it certainly doesn’t represent who we are.”
Highlighting that innovation is Alibaba’s ticket to the future, the note stressed that breakthroughs don’t come from brute force or robotic compliance—especially not in the AI era. “We firmly believe that respecting every individual’s unique value is the only way to truly deliver for customers and chart our course ahead.”
When it comes to team vibe, the memo drew a direct line to leadership. Managers at every level own the culture. Their job is to bring vision, step up without being asked, and rally the troops. People are Alibaba’s greatest asset, and nurturing them is non-negotiable for every leader. “As machines take over repetitive tasks in this AI-driven world, human potential matters more than ever. In this new era, we have to double down on empathy and mutual respect, actively building an open, inclusive, and diverse workplace together,” the committee concluded.
