Reborn multinational giant

A war between Alpha and Kergie has aroused worldwide attention, and at the same time has sparked extensive discussion of AI technology among netizens around the world.

Major internet companies around the world, including Alibaba, Google and Microsoft, have increased their attention and investment in AI.

Alibaba headquarters in Hang City, General Manager Ma, Zhang Yong, Cai Chongxin and several other Alibaba core executives and Alibaba technology leaders gathered to discuss important matters.

“Jianfeng, everyone who should be here today is here, please tell us your proposal again, say it!" Ma always looked at a middle-aged man with glasses.

Zhang Jianfeng, Chairman of Alibaba Technical Committee and one of the CTOs and partners of Alibaba Group.

Zhang Jianfeng scanned all the people in the conference room and said:

“Good President Ma, President Zhang, let me briefly explain my thoughts and suggestions.

In recent years, including convergence, Microsoft, Google and other leading global Internet companies, have made a lot of deployments and investments in cutting-edge technology fields such as AI, IoT and 5G.

Industry likes and believes these areas are the core technology directions for the future.Anyone who can master these fields can master the voice and initiative of the Internet and high-tech fields in the future.

We in Alibaba currently have layouts and investments in these areas, but there are still significant shortcomings and gaps compared to the conglomerates, Microsoft and other companies.

So my suggestion is to set up a special body to promote the deployment and exploration, research and development, etc. ”

“Well, I'm a little confused, didn't we just set up the Alibaba Technical Committee last year? Why don't you take the lead in doing these things?" asked Peng Lei, Alibaba's most famous female partner.

“President Peng, the Alibaba Technical Committee, which we established last year, is mainly to lead and plan the technical system within the entire group, develop talent, and make a good technical reserve.

The work of the Technical Committee is oriented towards the internal group, the existing technical routes within the group, the technical difficulties, the construction of the middle stage, the replication of wheels, and the construction of the technical direction in the coming years.

And the AI, IoT and other technologies I just mentioned are not directly related to our group's current core business. They are long-term, future technologies, and their role is gradually emerging and playing out in the long term.

The Technical Committee is realistic, and I propose that the new body be virtual. ”

Zhang Jianfeng's explanation is very common. Every executive in the basic scene can hear and understand what he means.

“Jianfeng submitted relevant bills to me and President Ma at the beginning of this year. We have talked many times before, such as Microsoft, Google and even Baidu, have set up laboratories, research institutes and so on dedicated to AI and other future fields of technology.

The Future Academy, which was established a few years ago, has gained prominence in these two years, and Ali alone has not achieved much in this regard.

Jianfeng was right about one thing just now. Whoever masters these future fields, masters the voice and initiative of the Internet and high-tech fields in the future.

Ten years ago, Apple launched IOS, Google launched Android, and with these two systems alone, these two companies have a strong dominance and monopoly over the global mobile internet industry.

In the short run, the investment in R&D exploration for the future is huge, but in the long run, its returns and benefits are far greater than the investment! "

Zhang Yong, who is the first person to sit on President Ma's right hand, has taken over the position of CEO of Alibaba Group, said.

As Alibaba's first-in-command, Ma always chose his successor. Zhang Yong's words were very meaningful. At the end of his speech, Ma always said:

“The biggest difference between the new institution I want to establish and the Alibaba Technical Committee is that the current Alibaba Technical Committee is basically made by our in-house technical talents and engineers.

The newly established institutions need to attract more talent and scientists from society, and they need to be good at working with high schools and the top scientific research forces.

Throughout the history of humankind, the great inventions were basically made by top scientists in the laboratory before they were commercialized by enterprises and spread to society and the world.

We in Alibaba are still a big company today, but there is a big gap between talent and scientific research power, on the one hand, and top scientists, university professors, expert scholars and even Nobel laureates, on the other.

Most of our talent is devoted to business and making money. How can we compare the depth of technology with those who are devoted to scientific research?

You can also see that the model of Huizhong Future Research Institute is very good. By establishing several important scientific research centers around the world, and cooperating with a number of top scientific research units such as universities and research institutes, we will give those experts some support for scientific research funds.

At that time, there will be scientific research results, and the gathering crowd will be able to contact and grasp them at the first moment, and quickly complete the transformation from laboratory scientific research results to commercial products.

Over the past two days, Huizhou's Alpha has once again gained momentum, allowing enterprises, large and small, around the world to see Huizhou's research and development strength in the AI field.

I have also heard that Alpha is now infiltrating many businesses, even if in the future the Internet of Things (IoT) of computers, automobiles, even washing machines, refrigerators and so on around the world will be ruled by Alpha.

At this point, we in Alibaba cannot afford to lag behind.

For us to be a 102 year, three-century enterprise, Alibaba must have this long-term vision and sense of foolishness.

I used to drink tea with Fang Zhe. He told me many times that he hoped to make the Huizhong Institute of the Future into a great scientific research site that would change human history and advance the progress of human civilization, like the Bell Laboratory.

A few years ago, I was still a little naive about his idea. After all, to that extent, the money and time invested are huge, not necessarily producing results, and it is likely to make a wedding dress for others.

But it was two years after Alibaba went public that I began to stand around the world and think about it from the perspective of the whole human race, and then I discovered my past frog thinking at the bottom of the well.

Today, when we are close to the top of the world, whether we want to be truly the top of the world or a thriving business, we need to lay the foundation for Alibaba's core competitiveness for the next 10, 20 or even 30 to 50 years.

If we can't afford to invest today, how can Alibaba compete with other big companies in 20, 30 or even 70 or 80 years?

So today, I think it is imperative to build a new institution! "

General Ma's speech unified ideas for Alibaba's core executives, and Alibaba, a giant, took another strategic step.

Alibaba Damo Academy and Alibaba Global Academy, Alibaba's scientific research institute for the future of technology, has officially entered an intense preparatory phase.