Alibaba Group Holding has initiated its spring hiring season, offering 3,000 internship positions to recent graduates, with a substantial portion—half of the total—dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI). This initiative underscores the e-commerce giant’s commitment to accelerating its technological advancements.
This recruitment drive targets students graduating between November 2025 and October 2026, with internship opportunities available across several business units. A notable portion of these roles, including over 80 percent of those within the cloud computing division, will center on AI-related projects. The move by Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, reflects the increasing demand for AI expertise, particularly as Chinese start-ups like DeepSeek drive the adoption of AI across various industries, contributing to a talent shortage.
Even though Alibaba reduced its workforce by 24,940 employees last year, primarily due to the divestment of offline retail operations, the need for skilled technology professionals remains strong. “As a technology company committed to exploration and innovation, Alibaba is ramping up efforts to attract and cultivate AI talent,” said Jane Jiang Fang, chief people officer, in a recent hiring announcement. “We aim to provide outstanding young professionals with broad career opportunities as we embrace the vast potential of the AI era.”
The initial phase of the internship program will concentrate on Alibaba Group, Alibaba Cloud, Tongyi Lab (its AI-model research unit), Ele.me (food delivery service), Amap (online mapping and ride-hailing platform), and Lingxi (video-gaming subsidiary).
