Alibaba forges Token Foundry as it hammers AI ambitions into shape
Alibaba created Token Foundry to unify key model teams and sharpen its push to commercialize AI.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Alibaba is consolidating its AI efforts under a new unit, Token Foundry, by bringing together Tongyi Lab and Future Life Lab. The move puts CEO Eddie Wu directly in charge and elevates Zhou Jingren to chief scientist to push frontier research.
Alibaba is putting its AI teams into one big box so they can work together better. It is like moving scattered puzzle pieces onto one table so the picture can finally come together.
Analysis
Alibaba Group Holding has set up a new AI unit called Token Foundry, bringing together its Tongyi Lab and Future Life Lab under a single structure as it tries to commercialize artificial intelligence more effectively. The new division will report directly to CEO Eddie Wu Yongming, according to people familiar with the matter.
The restructuring matters because it centralizes work that had been spread across different parts of the company. Future Life Lab had been inside Taobao and Tmall Group and worked on projects such as Happy Horse, a video-generation model, and Happy Oyster, an open-world AI model. The lab was overseen by Zheng Bo, who is chief scientist and vice-president of technology at Taobao and Tmall Group and also serves as CTO of Alimama.
Alibaba is also changing its research leadership. Zhou Jingren will become Alibaba chief scientist and head a newly created Alibaba AI Future Research Institute, which will focus on frontier AI research and next-generation technological breakthroughs. That suggests the company wants a clearer split between product-oriented model building and longer-term research.
The article also notes that Zhang Di, who previously led development of Kuaishou Technology’s video-generation model Kling, rejoined Alibaba in November 2025 to run Future Life Lab, reporting to Zheng. Taken together, the changes show Alibaba trying to line up people, research, and product teams around one AI agenda rather than letting them drift in separate business units.
Key points
- Alibaba created a new unit called Token Foundry to consolidate major AI model-development teams.
- Tongyi Lab and Future Life Lab are being brought under CEO Eddie Wu's direct control.
- Zhou Jingren will become chief scientist and lead a new AI Future Research Institute focused on frontier research.
- Future Life Lab has worked on projects including Happy Horse and Happy Oyster.
- The move is meant to align Alibaba's businesses around a unified AI strategy and commercialization push.
If the reorganization works, Alibaba could move faster from lab projects to products that customers actually use. A single reporting line may also help the company focus its research and spending on the most promising AI work.
The restructuring could still leave Alibaba with the same hard problem: turning research into profitable products. Bringing teams together does not guarantee better models, faster launches, or clearer business returns.
