How Alibaba is turning into China's AI powerhouse and a school for entrepreneurs
Alibaba Group Holding , left in 2014 to found his own venture, Rokid. The start-up, which develops smart glasses, was backed by angel investors that included Vision Plus Capital, formed by
Eddie Wu Yongming and others before Wu became CEO of Alibaba in 2023.
Advertisement
A decade later, Rokid has emerged as one of the most prominent technology start-ups in Hangzhou, Alibaba's home city in eastern China. Over the past months, its augmented reality (AR) glasses, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) models, have been making waves on social media and in the stock market, earning Rokid recognition as the 'seventh little dragon' in the city, following the rise of the
'six little dragons' that included
DeepSeek and
Unitree Robotics
'I filled most of my knowledge gaps during my four years as an engineer' at Alibaba, Zhu said in a recent interview, adding that he had learned about marketing, operations and finance during his time there.
Zhu and his start-up exemplify how Alibaba is empowering the development of China's AI industry through people who once worked at the company, particularly in Hangzhou. By the end of 2024, 85 AI start-ups had been founded by former Alibaba employees, with 45 per cent based in the city, according to information from the Chinese database ITJuzi. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
While e-commerce remains Alibaba's core business, with Taobao and Tmall contributing the bulk of its revenues and profits, the Hangzhou-based company, established by Jack Ma in 1999, is increasingly viewed as a facilitator of entrepreneurship through its AI capabilities rather than merely an online marketplace operator.
Chinese tech giant Alibaba's headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Photo: AFP
While DeepSeek, the start-up founded by Liang Wenfeng, has garnered headlines for its low-cost but high-performance models, the lab, consisting of about 200 young scientists focusing mostly on research, is less equipped to educate users about its products.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
From TikTok to Huawei, Chinese tech giants flock to Arab tech hub Dubai
Chinese tech giants from ByteDance and Huawei Technologies to Alibaba Group Holding are playing an increasingly important role in Dubai's burgeoning tech industry, as the emirate seeks to diversify its economy beyond its historical reliance on oil. Central to that transformation is the Dubai Internet City (DIC) – a tech park near the upscale neighbourhood of Palm Jumeirah, a palm tree-shaped archipelago – which hosts global Big Tech companies including Microsoft, Google and along with their Chinese rivals. ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, occupies multiple floors in a DIC tower with stunning coastline views. A visit by TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi in 2024 underscored the firm's commitment to expanding in Dubai. Angela Ji, a Chinese national who has worked at TikTok's Dubai office for two years, said the company offered generous packages for Chinese employees willing to relocate. The office houses hundreds of staff, according to Ji. 'Dubai makes me feel like I'm in an era of economic growth, where tech companies still spend big to expand and hire,' said Ji, who previously worked at ByteDance's Beijing headquarters. 'That makes it so different from China and elsewhere.' The Dubai Internet City hosts tech giants like ByteDance and Microsoft. Photo: Handout Having reduced the share of oil production in its gross domestic product from 50 per cent last century to under 1 per cent today, Dubai is actively pursuing new growth engines in the tech sector.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Hongkongers warned of legal liabilities ahead of ChatGPT-style AI tool launch
Using artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword, and users must accept full responsibility if they break the law, according to Hong Kong's technology minister, ahead of the release of a locally developed tool powered by mainland China's DeepSeek for free public use this year. Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong issued the warning on Saturday in response to an incident in which a University of Hong Kong (HKU) law student allegedly used AI tools to create illicit pornographic images of female classmates based on publicly available photos and screenshots from social media. The university issued a warning letter and is reviewing the case, while Hong Kong's privacy watchdog has initiated a criminal investigation. The city's leader, John Lee Ka-chiu, has also pledged to explore international regulations and 'best practices' for AI governance. 'The use of AI is a double-edged sword as it will prompt many issues while providing convenience to the public and a boost to the economy. So the key is to have proper guidance and a comprehensive legal framework,' Sun told a radio programme. 'AI is just a tool. Eventually, the users have to be responsible for its application and bear the relevant liability.' Sun added that users should be aware of their legal responsibilities when using AI as Hong Kong prepares for the free public launch of 'HK Chat' in the second half of the year.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
China's top market regulator summons Alibaba, Meituan, JD.com over delivery price war
China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on Friday summoned major online food delivery platforms – Alibaba Group Holding 's Meituan , and – urging them to engage in 'rational' competition amid a prolonged price war. The meeting aimed to 'further regulate promotion behaviours, encourage rational competition, and foster a healthy ecosystem and win-win situation for consumers, merchants, delivery riders, and platform operators', the regulator said in an announcement. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. The SAMR said those companies must adhere to e-commerce, anti-unfair competition, and food safety laws, and must take on their responsibilities. In a separate meeting on the same day, the regulator addressed food safety concerns related to live-streaming e-commerce. It said that some food items sold during recent live-streamed sessions contained excessive food additives or pesticide residues. Representatives from various live-streaming platforms and influencer agencies attended that meeting, although the SAMR did not disclose any names.
