TIME100 AI, Time’s flagship list celebrating the most influential people in AI, named Alibaba Group Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu for his decisive leadership in transforming Alibaba into a global leader in AI.

Wu is leading Alibaba into the future with an entrepreneurial mindset and critical investments. Launched in 2023, the list selected Wu for the “Leaders” category, which also spotlights global AI heavyweights such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sam Altman.

TIME noted Wu’s leadership in driving Alibaba’s AI transformation, “Wu has not been shy at putting AI front and center of Alibaba’s pivot,” TIME wrote. The publication also highlighted Alibaba’s 2026 focus of shifting toward commercialization and what it dubs the “agentic era.”

TIME observed his conviction that accessible AI drives societal change, citing Wu’s own words: “As AI becomes more broadly accessible and genuinely inclusive, we believe educational disparities can be further reduced, healthcare resources can be allocated more equitably, and the overall vitality of society can continue to expand,” Wu noted. “This is the foundational conviction that drives Alibaba’s sustained and unwavering commitment to AI.”

One of Alibaba’s original founders, Wu was the company’s technology director at its inception in 1999 and went on to serve in various technical leadership roles — including chief technology officer of Taobao, and head of the Group’s search, advertising, and mobile businesses — before taking the reins as Alibaba CEO in September 2023.

Under Wu, Alibaba has established leading positions across the AI value chain. At the infrastructure layer, its proprietary T-Head AI chips are delivering the compute that underpins Alibaba’s AI and cloud portfolio. At the model layer, Alibaba launched multi-modal models, delivering top-tier performance. Alibaba’s Qwen series is the world’s most-downloaded open-source model family.

The full-stack AI advantage is the engine behind accelerating monetization for Alibaba. Its AI Cloud and Compute Services recorded 45% year-over-year revenue growth in the June quarter, the fastest pace in 22 quarters. AI-related product annualized revenue reached $7.3 billion and is expected to reach $10 billion in the September quarter. Alibaba is on track to achieve US$100 billion in combined cloud and AI external revenue in 2030.

Wu’s selection for the TIME100 AI list marks the third accolade from TIME this year, following earlier honors in April that named Alibaba one of the 10 Most Influential AI Companies of 2026 and one of the TIME100 Most Influential Companies.

To read TIME’s full feature on Wu, click here.