Alibaba begins spring hiring with 3,000 internship roles focused on AI

The recruitment campaign targets students graduating between November 2025 and October 2026, with internships spanning multiple business units. Nearly half of the roles – including more than 80 per cent of positions in the cloud computing arm – are AI-focused.

The scramble for talent by Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, comes as Chinese start-up DeepSeek has set off a national frenzy to adopt AI in various industries and sectors, worsening a shortage of workers with knowledge in the technology.

“As a technology company committed to exploration and innovation, Alibaba is ramping up efforts to attract and cultivate AI talent,” Jane Jiang Fang, chief people officer, said in a hiring post on Thursday. “We aim to provide outstanding young professionals with broad career opportunities as we embrace the vast potential of the AI era.”