ExclusiveWhy cloud computing pioneer Wang Jian thinks space is the next AI frontier
Alibaba Cloud founder says open-source, closed-source AI philosophies not at odds, calls for more Chinese cloud competition to strengthen industry
Long before artificial intelligence became the next big thing in the tech industry, Wang Jian was crafting the foundational infrastructure that would eventually power it. In 2008, he joined Alibaba Group Holding – owner of the South China Morning Post – as chief architect and founded Alibaba Cloud in 2009, convincing the company’s leadership to invest heavily in building a cloud computing infrastructure from scratch.
Today, Wang’s purview has expanded considerably. As an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the director of Zhejiang Lab, a research institution backed by the Zhejiang provincial government, his focus has turned to a new frontier: space computing.
The current excitement over AI models is not the first wave of enthusiasm you’ve observed. How has this been different?
