[New] AI Talent Race Heats Up in China as Xiaomi, ByteDance, and Alibaba Compete for Experts

According to Commercial Times, citing Chinese media outlet Science and Technology Innovation Express News, the global sensation brought by DeepSeek has heightened enthusiasm for AI among China’s internet and technology giants. These companies have been actively recruiting AI talent. As enterprises compete to bring top-tier professionals into their ranks, the battle for AI talent continues to intensify, as the report notes.

The report points out that Alibaba’s AI business has recently launched a large-scale recruitment drive, opening up hundreds of job positions. Citing sources, the report indicates that this round of external hiring at Alibaba primarily focuses on AI product development and AI technology R&D. Key areas of investment include generative AI, multimodal large language models, AI agents, and other cutting-edge technologies and applications.

As highlighted by another report from South China Morning Post, Alibaba has consistently been proactive in attracting AI talent. In early February 2025, top global AI scientist and former Salesforce Group Vice President Steven Hoi Chu-hong joined Alibaba. He is responsible for foundational research and application solutions related to multimodal models and AI agents in Alibaba.

Beyond Alibaba, other major Chinese tech companies are also joining the AI talent battle. For instance, recently, Xiaomi’s recruitment of DeepSeek’s “AI prodigy” Luo Fuli has sparked widespread attention, as the report notes.

Additionally, according to South China Morning Post, Yonghui Wu, a veteran Google researcher who worked at the U.S. company for 17 years, has left Google and officially joined ByteDance. Wu will serve as the head of foundational research for the large model team Seed at ByteDance, focusing on large language models and generative AI.

Alibaba’s AI Industry Expansion

The report notes that Alibaba has recently confirmed its collaboration with Apple to develop AI features for iPhone users in China. Beyond smartphones, Alibaba is also working to deploy its Qwen large language models in AI-powered smart glasses. This includes a partnership with consumer AR glasses maker RayNeo, for which Alibaba will provide exclusive, customized technical support.

In terms of AI infrastructure, Alibaba Cloud recently announced the official launch of its data center in Mexico. This marks Alibaba Cloud’s first data center in the Latin American region, as indicated by its press release.

In May 2024, Alibaba Cloud announced a new wave of global infrastructure expansion, planning to invest in new data centers in Thailand, Mexico, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea. As noted by Science and Technology Innovation Express News, Alibaba Cloud currently operates across 29 regions worldwide, covering 87 availability zones.

Read more

• [News] Apple Reportedly Teams Up with Alibaba to Bring AI to iPhones in China, Rejects DeepSeek
• [News] Chinese Tech Giants Ramp Up Silicon Valley AI Talent Hunt amid U.S. Restrictions

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