Inside Alibaba’s DAMO Academy: Building the Future of AI and Quantum Tech

On October 11, 2017 at the Hangzhou Cloud Expo, Alibaba Group officially launched the DAMO Academy, an entity dedicated to fundamental science and disruptive technology innovation under the "NASA" program.

The company pledged to invest more than 100 billion RMB in research over the next three years, and assembled an unprecedented Academic Advisory Committee that includes three Chinese academicians, five members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, AI pioneer Michael I. Jordan, and human‑genome project leader George M. Church.

The committee will advise on research directions, key development areas, major tasks and goals.

Founded by Alibaba CTO Zhang Jianfeng, the Academy will operate independently from the existing R&D system, focusing on frontier technologies such as quantum computing, machine learning, core algorithms, network security, visual computing, natural language processing, human‑machine interaction, chip technology, sensor technology and embedded systems.

Global research centers are being established in Asia, the Americas and Europe, with labs in Beijing, Hangzhou, Singapore, Israel, San Mateo, Bellevue, Moscow and other locations, initially recruiting about 100 top scientists.

The first batch of advisory members includes:

Gao Wen – Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Director of Peking University Digital Media Institute.

Mei Hong – Co‑founder of Qingniao Systems, Vice President of Beijing Institute of Technology, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Wu Zhaohui – President of Zhejiang University, Vice‑Director of the Zhijiang Laboratory.

Huang Ru – The youngest female academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, expert in nanotechnology.

Michael I. Jordan – Fellow of three U.S. academies, world‑renowned AI scholar.

Li Kai – Academician of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Princeton professor, pioneer of distributed storage design.

Zhou Yizhen – Director of Columbia University Data Science Institute, defined computational thinking.

Henry M. Levy – Dean of the University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering, U.S. engineering academy member.

George M. Church – Leader of the Human Genome Project, Harvard Medical School professor.

Avi Wigderson – Israeli mathematician and computer scientist, member of the U.S. academies.

Through this collaboration of top scientists, cutting‑edge research centers, and Alibaba’s 25,000 engineers, the DAMO Academy aims to become a driving force for future technological breakthroughs that will shape humanity’s next era.