Alibaba creates Token Foundry, appoints Zhou Jingren as chief scientist

On Monday, Alibaba Group Holding launched a new division named Token Foundry, aiming to strengthen its artificial intelligence commercialization efforts by unifying essential AI model development teams. This new unit combines Tongyi Lab and Future Life Lab, both under the direct leadership of CEO Eddie Wu Yongming. Future Life Lab, which was part of Taobao and Tmall Group, created initiatives such as the video-generation model Happy Horse and the open-world AI model Happy Oyster. Zheng Bo, the chief scientist and VP of technology at Taobao and Tmall Group, supervised it and also holds the position of CTO at Alimama, Alibaba's digital marketing division. In November 2025, Zhang Di returned to Alibaba to manage Future Life Lab after leading Kuaishou Technology's Kling model. Additionally, Zhou Jingren, the former leader of Qwen, has been appointed as Alibaba's chief scientist and will direct the newly formed Alibaba AI Future Research Institute, concentrating on cutting-edge AI research and future innovations.