Alibaba Group announced that CEO Eddie Wu will lead a newly created artificial intelligence-focused division called Alibaba Token Hub (ATH), a move designed to strengthen the company’s development of enterprise AI platforms and coordinate its expanding AI initiatives, according to Reuters.
The new Alibaba Token Hub business group will focus on building AI-powered work platforms for enterprise users while consolidating multiple existing AI teams and projects under a single organizational structure. According to the company, the new unit will bring together several existing Alibaba operations, including Tongyi Laboratory, the Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) Business Line, the Qwen and Wukong business units, and the AI Innovation business unit.
Wu will oversee the group directly as part of an effort to align the company’s AI development efforts more closely with product deployment and enterprise use cases. The restructuring is intended to improve coordination across Alibaba’s AI businesses while accelerating the integration of AI technologies across its operations.
The move comes amid leadership changes within Alibaba’s AI teams and growing competition among Chinese technology companies developing open-source AI models. Earlier this month, Lin Junyang, head of the company’s Qwen AI model division, stepped down, marking the third senior departure from that unit this year.
Competition in China’s AI sector has intensified as domestic firms race to develop large language models and AI platforms at lower costs than Western counterparts. Some Chinese models, including those from companies such as DeepSeek and Zhipu AI, are reported to cost significantly less than U.S. alternatives, helping local firms expand global adoption while raising questions about long-term profitability.
Alibaba is expected to report its quarterly earnings later this week, and investors will likely watch for additional details about the company’s AI strategy and how the newly created Token Hub unit will contribute to growth and monetization of its artificial intelligence capabilities.
