On March 4, the announcement that Lin Junyang, core lead of Alibaba's Qwen project, would step down attracted widespread attention. According to internal sources, Lin had actually begun preparing for his departure a month prior, indicating the move was not unexpected. As of press time, Alibaba had not issued any official response to the news.
Following Lin's announcement, Alibaba reportedly held an all-hands meeting attended by Chairman and CEO Wu Yongming, Chief People Officer Jiang Fang, Alibaba Cloud CTO Zhou Jingren, and others. From the group's perspective, the company is a model company, and Qwen is a group-wide initiative—not just a foundational model project. The aim of building a large closed-loop system is to accelerate development, with Qwen being the most critical priority for the group. Talent expansion will inevitably lead to organizational adjustments. While relying solely on Lin Junyang's expertise might be efficient, Zhou Jingren must consider how to best position newly introduced Zhou Hao for effectiveness. The entire process reportedly did not involve political considerations.
Wu Yongming attended the internal meeting and pointed out that China's unique conditions make it difficult to satisfy all parties in resource allocation. He stated that resource distribution issues should have been identified earlier and emphasized that Qwen remains the top priority, adding that he has exerted his utmost effort as CEO of the Chinese operations.
Regarding Lin Junyang's future, Jiang Fang reportedly responded during the meeting that the company cannot meet irrational demands at any cost to retain staff. However, Alibaba has not yet provided a definitive answer on whether Lin will stay or leave.
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