China’s battle for top AI talent heats up as JD.com creates new research and development unit
Online retail giant’s latest recruit, Pei Jian, previously served as AI product team leader at telecoms equipment maker Huawei’s cloud computing arm
JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce company, has joined the fierce competition on the mainland for top talent in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), as it set up a new research and development operation.
The Nasdaq-listed company said it has named Pei Jian, who was a leading big data researcher and computing science professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada, to head its recently established data platform and product research and development department.
Pei may be one of the most sought-after AI talent recruited in China since he previously served as AI product team leader at the cloud computing arm of Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker.
A Huawei spokesman on Monday said the departure of Pei will not affect the company’s own AI strategy.
“Huawei has a global research and development team of more than 800,000 professionals, including hundreds of AI experts,” the spokesman said. “The global market for AI talent is very competitive, but Huawei’s proposition for AI experts to join our business is also very compelling.”
In his new role as a vice-president at JD.com, Pei will report directly to company founder and chief executive Richard Liu Qiangdong.