July 28, 2012, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI 's ChatGPT kicked off a revolution in AI development and investment. However, the founder of Alibaba Group's cloud computing and AI divisionWang Jiansays that of the technologies and services that have sprung up since the ChatGPT boom, 90% may be gone within a decade.
OpenAI has been lauded for leading AI into the mainstream. But the problem, Wang Jian said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, is that theOpenAI creates a "biased" or one-sided perception of AI's capabilities.It has ignited the public's imagination for chatbots, but the application of AI goes far beyond that. According to Wang Jian, developers need to remove the noise and think creatively about application scenarios in order to push AI into the next stage of development. Wang Jian built AliCloud, the company's second largest business, from the ground up in 2009.
"I think.There is 90% AI content that people are currently discussing that could disappear in five to ten years because these are not the essence of the technology.But it's not a bad thing, rather it helps us to explore." Wang Jian said.
Before joining Ali, Wang Jian's work at Microsoft Research Asia established his reputation. He knows very well how to think out of the box. Soon after joining Ali, he pitched the idea of developing a computing business to Ali co-founder Jack Ma. He recalls that he was very nervous at the time because he had neither a concrete business plan nor a model to show, he only had one firm belief:The market demand for computing power will explode in the future.As it turns out, he was right.
Today.AliCloud has grown into a $16 billion business.It not only supports Ali's global e-commerce and logistics business, but also gave birth to the Tongyi Thousand Questions Big Model. The model is considered to be comparable to DeepSeek as well as products such as ChatGPT and Gemini in the United States. Currently, Ali is betting fully on AI and is engaged in the global race to build General Artificial Intelligence (AGI).
Find the right person, not the most expensive.
Right now, Chinese and American companies are pouring billions of dollars into developing a technology that promises to drive high economic growth and change the global landscape in the long run. President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on companies like OpenAI and Google to help ensure U.S. leadership in the post-ChatGPT era.
Wang Jian didn't comment directly on the competition between countries, but criticized companies like OpenAI and Meta for splashing the cash.For example, recruiting top engineers at the level of sports superstar salaries.
“Silicon Valleyapproach is not the way to success; what really matters is innovation. So in the early stages of innovation, I don't think talent is a problem because the only thing you need to do is find the right people, not the expensive ones." Wang Jian said.
Jian Wang admits that nearly two decades ago, he didn't expect the AI revolution to come so quickly. All he could envision then was that computing would be as important as electricity or oil. That importance will continue for at least a few more decades.
With regard to China, Wang Jian is confident that China will continue to be a hotbed of innovation, in part because it is one of the world's largest tech labs.
"This is a testing ground for new technology. People are passionate about technology and are experimenting with many different things." Wang Jian stated.