according to titanium mediaOn June 8, it was reported that Alibaba announced the merger of the Tongyi Model Business Unit and the Future Life Laboratory to establish the Token Foundry Business Unit, which will be directly responsible for Group CEO Wu Yongming. Zhou Jingren will serve as Alibaba's chief scientist and lead the establishment of the Alibaba AI Future Research Institute to focus on the exploration and breakthrough of cutting-edge AI technology. Zheng Bo led Happy Horse, Happy Oyster and other teams to join the Token Foundry business unit.
"Token Foundry": A strategic transition from "big model" to "Token factory"
Alibaba's organizational structure adjustment reveals that ChinaThe new logic of the AI industry-from "model development" to "Token production":
| old architecture | new architecture | core changes |
| Tongyi Large Model Business Department | Token Foundry Division | From "making models" to "producing tokens" |
| Future Life Laboratory | Incorporate into Token Foundry | From "scene exploration" to "industrialization implementation" |
| Dispersed AI team | Unified reporting to CEO | From "departmental game" to "strategic focus" |
The name "Token Foundry" is very symbolic-in the AI era, Token is not only a technical unit (the smallest processing unit of text), but also a value anchor and commercial settlement unit. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that as of March 2026, the average daily Token call volume in China has exceeded 140 trillion yuan, an increase of more than a thousand times compared with 100 billion yuan at the beginning of 2024.
Zhou Jingren's "Chief Scientist" Role: The Return from Engineering to Science
Zhou Jingren previously served as the head of Ali Tongyi Thousand Questions, and he was transferred to the chief scientist and took the lead.The AI Future Research Institute marks Alibaba's strategic tilt from "engineering optimization" to "scientific breakthrough." This arrangement echoes OpenAI's dual-track "research-product" system and Anthropic's "security-capabilities" system.
A "double duel" with ByteDance's $70 billion AI investment
Alibaba'sToken Foundry was established just as ByteDance announced a five-year, US$70 billion AI capital expenditure plan. A "double dominance pattern" in China's AI industry is taking shape:
| dimension | Alibaba | ByteDance |
| core strategy | Token industrialization + enterprise-level services | Full-stack self-research + consumer ecology |
| Organizational structure | Token Foundry (CEO direct management) | Volcano Engine +Seed Team |
| technical route | Tongyi Thousand Questions + Open Source Ecosystem | Seed + Seed Dream + Bean Bag |
| business scenarios | E-commerce, finance, logistics | Short Video, content creation, advertising |
| capital investment | Specific figures are not disclosed | US$70 billion (5 years) |
Alibaba's establishment of Token Foundry is a landmark event for China's AI industry to move from "technology competition" to "industrial production." While U.S. AI companies are still chasing trillion-dollar valuations, China companies have chosen a more pragmatic path: standardize, scale, and commercialize AI capabilities into measurable "Tokens" for sale. Wu Yongming is personally in charge and Zhou Jingren leads scientific research. This dual-core structure of "top leader + chief scientist" not only ensures strategic execution, but also retains space for technological breakthroughs. But challenges also exist: Token Foundry's "factory" thinking may inhibit cutting-edge innovation; compared with ByteDance's US$70 billion investment, is Alibaba's capital sufficient? In the AI era, can the "Token Factory" create more value than the "Big Model Laboratory"? The answer will be gradually announced in the financial report for the second half of 2026.