This morning, Alibaba CEO Wu Yongming responded to Lin Junyang’s resignation in an internal email. He said that he will continue to adhere to the open source model strategy, continue to increase investment in AI research and development and attract outstanding talents.
Alibaba insiders revealed: The company has not changed Qianwen’s open source strategy, nor has it used daily activity and other commercial goals to evaluate the prototype team. Lin Junyang’s resignation has nothing to do with these rumors. The actual situation is that as Qianwen upgrades from the basic model to the overall strategy of the group, the company believes that it needs to recruit more technical experts and increase the talent density of the basic model team. This process involves the adjustment of Lin Junyang's scope of authority and responsibilities. Lin Junyang did not accept it and resigned.
The following is the full text of the email:
Dear Tongyi Laboratory students:
The company has decided to approve Lin Junyang's resignation and thanks Lin Junyang for his past contributions to his position. Jingren will continue to lead Tongyi Laboratory to advance follow-up work. At the same time, the company will set up a basic model support group, and I, Jingren, and Fan Yu will jointly coordinate the group's resources to support the construction of the basic model.
If technological development does not advance, it will retreat. Developing basic large models is our key strategy for the future. While continuing to adhere to the open source model strategy, we will continue to increase investment in research and development in the field of artificial intelligence and increase our efforts to attract outstanding talents. Let’s work hard together.
Wu Yongming
March 5, 2026