Alibaba Chair Joe Tsai Backs Open Source AI as Sustainable Path

Nov 3, 2026
Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai said open source technology is the only viable path to a sustainable AI industry, citing its role in expanding access amid limited computing capacity.

Alibaba Group chairman Joe Tsai called open source technology the only viable path to a sustainable AI industry, according to the South China Morning Post. He said open weights lower research and development costs for smaller businesses and developing nations, citing a Ugandan non-profit that used Qwen to build a model supporting 68 African languages.

Tsai made the remarks at the opening of the annual World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit in Zhejiang, China. Premier Li Qiang used the same summit to warn against a "digital iron curtain".

Chinese AI companies DeepSeek and MiniMax received regulatory approval late last month, according to state media, to release and license open source systems overseas. The approvals came shortly after Chinese authorities proposed export restrictions covering some AI technologies.

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