Alibaba and Google have converged on a common view as the US tech giant re-engages in AI: a full-stack strategy is now the price of entry for large-model competition. Both stand among the few "super players" spanning AI chips, cloud infrastructure, foundation models, and large-scale applications.
Huawei Cloud restructures with core ICT focus
As the global AI race intensifies, only organizations with real operational strength can remain competitive. Huawei Cloud has been executing a major internal overhaul since early 2025, following strategic consolidation and anti-corruption efforts, and its latest changes mark another significant pivot.
Huawei Cloud had long used a "front-office/back-factory" structure that housed business operations and product R&D under one roof. The new restructuring returns R&D to Huawei's core ICT engineering unit. In parallel, Zhang Ping'an becomes chairman, while Peter Zhou steps in as CEO after leading the launches of Huawei UCM and Huawei Flex:ai in late 2025.
Reports from Chinastarmarket.cn, Zhidx, and Wallstreetcn indicate the restructuring aims to fold Huawei Cloud's development work into its wider ICT infrastructure system. Analysts note that three of the business's five new product lines depend heavily on Zhou's technologies, widely seen as the key factor behind his appointment as CEO.
Alibaba Cloud's AI-driven surge
Alibaba's latest results show growth now comes almost entirely from AI. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Alibaba Cloud reported revenue of CNY39.824 billion (US$5.63 billion), a 34% year-on-year increase.
ByteDance's Volcengine is shifting firmly to a token-based monetisation model for foundation-model usage.
By late September 2025, daily token calls for its Doubao (Cici) model exceeded 30 trillion, surprising much of the industry.
Leadership turnover and governance concerns
Since becoming an independent unit in 2017, Huawei Cloud has had five CEOs: Zheng Yelai, Hou Jinlong, Richard Yu, Zhang Ping'an, and now Peter Zhou. Zhang held the role for over four years, the longest to date, and oversaw rapid revenue growth. Even so, Huawei Cloud still lags Alibaba Cloud by a wide margin.
Huawei's Discipline Inspection Commission (DIC) recently issued Zhang a severe warning after investigating inflated performance claims and financial misconduct within the cloud unit, demoting him three ranks. Less than three months later, Huawei Cloud named him chairman, raising questions over whether the move is a promotion or a subtle sidelining.
Huawei Cloud recorded CNY68.8 billion in revenue in 2024, up 24.4%, yet the gap with Alibaba Cloud remains large; Alibaba Cloud earned CNY106.374 billion in the same period. Huawei Cloud has not reported profitability and is widely viewed as still loss-making, making commercialization a central challenge for its new CEO.
Zhou's track record and AI industrialization push
Huawei has poured resources into its cloud ambitions, rotating seasoned executives into top roles. Peter Zhou now stands at the centre of the latest leadership shift, backed by a career defined by tackling what many viewed as "impossible missions."
Public records show Zhou played a central role in several of Huawei's major business expansions. He spearheaded the company's entry into the small-cell market in 2013 and, after moving to the IT division in 2019, drove sustained growth in its storage business. He previously led Huawei's storage product line, which originated from Huawei Symantec Technologies, the joint venture with Symantec established in 2008. Huawei bought out the venture in 2011 for US$530 million, and Zhou went on to head the storage division from 2015 for more than a decade.
In interviews with Zhidx and others, Zhou has said Huawei's priority is not token volume but the real economic value created through AI industrialization. The company aims to help enterprises embed AI into production workflows, generate tangible value, and accelerate broader adoption across industries.
Article translated by Levi Li and edited by Jerry Chen
