Alibaba Group Holding is shoring up its artificial intelligence (AI) team for consumer applications with the recent hire of Steven Hoi Chu-hong, an expert in machine learning and computer vision technologies who previously served as managing director of Salesforce Research Asia.
Based in Singapore, Hoi last month was named a vice-president at Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, and joined the Intelligent Information Platform, which oversees consumer-oriented products including the group’s AI chatbot, UC Browser and search engine Quark.
Hoi will lead research and development of multimodal foundation models, agent-related studies and applied solutions for consumer-facing AI businesses, according to a report by Chinese digital media outlet Jiemian.
Hangzhou-based Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Alibaba’s recruitment of Hoi reflects the intensified search for top AI talent by China’s Big Tech companies at home and abroad amid challenges in the country’s job market.
