Alibaba Starts Major Revamp to Heighten Focus on AI Profits

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is setting up a business unit to bring its sprawling AI services and development endeavors under a single umbrella, signaling its determination to profit off artificial intelligence.

The company is moving the research team that develops its flagship Qwen models, the consumer-facing app division, as well as major AI-related products into a unit headed by Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu. Simply called Alibaba Token Hub, the new division will also oversee Alibaba’s Slack-like DingTalk app and devices under the Quark brand such as smart glasses, Wu said in a memo to employees reviewed by Bloomberg News.