Junyang Lin, the technical lead and public face of Alibaba’s Qwen open-source AI model family, announced his departure on March 3, 2026. The resignation occurred one day after the launch of the Qwen3.5 small model, a project Lin was actively promoting.
The exit has triggered speculation regarding internal friction. A fellow Qwen contributor suggested that Lin’s departure was not voluntary.
Researcher Kaixin Li also announced their departure from the Qwen team during the same period. Lin is credited with driving the global adoption of the Qwen project and serving as its primary representative in the AI community.
Alibaba has not issued a public comment regarding the leadership changes.