Why a Former Amazon Vision Scientist Chose Alibaba’s iDST – Inside the AI Talent Race

On June 25, it was reported that Ren Xiaofeng, a former senior principal scientist at Amazon, updated his profile on the University of Washington website to show his new roles as chief scientist and vice dean of Alibaba's Institute of Data Science and Technologies (iDST).

iDST, founded in 2014, is Alibaba's core AI research team with members in Hangzhou, Beijing, Seattle, and Silicon Valley. It serves as the AI brain for Alibaba's "NASA" program, a 20‑year plan to build a powerful independent R&D unit for a future economy serving two billion people.

Ren led the computer‑vision algorithm team for Amazon Go, the cashier‑less retail concept that relies on computer vision, deep learning, and sensor fusion to enable customers to pick items and leave without checkout.

Alibaba praised Ren for his comprehensive understanding of image classification, object detection, tracking, and event detection in computer vision.

Ren will work with vice dean Hua Xiansheng to provide computer‑vision services across Alibaba’s diverse business scenarios and build a world‑class machine‑vision platform.

Ren, a Chinese national and U.S. permanent resident, says he loves Seattle and plans to stay there, while also helping Alibaba recruit top international talent.

He holds a B.S. from Zhejiang University, an M.S. from Stanford, and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, and serves as a visiting professor at the University of Washington. His papers have been cited over 9,000 times, and he has chaired major conferences such as CVPR and ICCV.

Ren chose Alibaba because of its extensive application scenarios, strong emphasis on AI, and the support and space to advance computer‑vision technology, which he believes will improve people’s quality of life.

Alibaba has been actively recruiting top AI talent from overseas, including IEEE Fellow Hua Xiansheng and former Microsoft partner Dr. Jingren Zhou, who now leads Alibaba Cloud’s AI research.

iDST leverages machine learning and deep learning to build core AI technologies for image, video, speech, natural language understanding, and intelligent decision‑making, serving e‑commerce, finance, logistics, social, and entertainment businesses through Alibaba Cloud.

Interview Highlights

Why join Alibaba iDST? Ren said Alibaba’s broad reach, innovative culture, and abundant AI application scenarios convinced him to join, offering the support needed to turn computer‑vision research into practical products.

Work in Seattle? He aims to build an international, world‑class team in Seattle, collaborating closely with domestic teams to advance Alibaba’s AI development.

Future expectations? Ren hopes to quickly understand Alibaba’s business needs, integrate with the team, and deliver leading‑edge AI products.

Returning to China? Due to family reasons, he has not considered returning, but he wants to help Alibaba attract global talent and expand worldwide.

Applying Amazon Go experience? He will leverage his computer‑vision expertise to contribute to Alibaba’s new retail initiatives.

Recommended AI resources? Book: "Vision Science: Photons to Phenomenology" by Steven Palmer; Video: (Hyper) augmented reality (https://vimeo.com/8569187).

View on AI’s future impact? AI will become a powerful tool that enhances efficiency and experience across all domains, not a robot that competes with humans.

Image: Scene from the TV series "Westworld", illustrating futuristic AI concepts.