🔍 Junyang Lin, technical lead of Qwen at Alibaba, resigns after model launch

Alibaba has lost one of its most visible leaders on the Qwen project, just a day after the company unveiled its new Qwen 3.5 models. Junyang Lin, who joined Alibaba in July 2019 and became part of the Qwen team in April 2023, announced his resignation in a post on X (formerly Twitter) without providing further details.

Lin's sudden departure has generated strong reactions among his colleagues and industry partners at a time when global competition among artificial intelligence developers is intensifying. The Qwen models have emerged as one of the most prominent open-weight AI efforts in China, achieving benchmark results that often rival those of leading U.S. developers.

The launch of the Qwen 3.5 model series, which includes models with 0.8B, 2B, 4B, and 9B parameters, caught the attention of influential figures in the AI community, including Elon Musk, who highlighted its "impressive intelligence density."

Lin's departure has prompted unusual reactions among his peers, who described him as a central figure in the project. Wenting Zhao, research scientist on the Qwen team, called it "the end of an era," thanking him for his contributions to the advancement of open-source AI. Other colleagues also expressed their sadness, highlighting his role in connecting Qwen with the global developer community.

The circumstances of his departure remain uncertain, and Alibaba has not commented on the reasons behind this decision or on the leadership structure of the Qwen team.

📌 More information: Alibaba’s Qwen tech lead steps down after major AI push - TechCrunch