Racing to Build the Next Wave of AI Experts
As the Chinese mainland accelerates its digital transformation, leading internet firms Alibaba, Huawei and Kuaishou are launching ambitious programs to recruit and train top AI talent. This push spans from internships and graduate hires to livestream job fairs and targeted skills training.
Alibaba kicked off its 2025 spring recruitment in February, offering over 3,000 internship positions in roles from research and development to algorithms, technology and product planning. Nearly half of these spots focus on AI, drawing candidates who expect to graduate between November 2025 and October 2026 from domestic and overseas institutions.
In April, Huawei announced plans to recruit more than 10,000 graduates in 2025, a double-digit increase from last year. The company is targeting expertise in large AI models, high-performance computing and ecosystem development. Alongside these hires, Huawei will train over 5,000 interns in areas such as testing, cutting-edge R&D and financial services.
The Chinese mainland's short video platform Kuaishou, known abroad as Kwai, is also emerging as a major engine for inclusive job creation. A 2024 report by Renmin University of China found that Kwai generated 43.2 million job opportunities by the end of 2024, spawning 174 new digital professions.
Innovations like livestream job fairs are reshaping recruitment. In a county in Jilin Province, local authorities trained 2,180 livestream hosts, who helped match over 35,000 workers with employers in real time. The report estimates that every increase of 100 million yuan (about US$13.9 million) in livestream e-commerce GMV creates around 1,200 new jobs.
"Livestream-based recruitment, as an emerging format in recent years, not only breaks through geographic and time constraints of traditional offline hiring but also offers job seekers more diverse options and flexibility. It effectively addresses labor shortages in sectors like manufacturing, improves the efficiency of job matching, and lowers overall recruitment costs," said Zhang Chenggang, director of the China New Employment Forms Research Center.
Kuaishou told CGTN it aims to train 10 million people in digital skills over the next three years, focusing on roles such as livestream hosts, AI application engineers and digital marketers. As these programs roll out, the Chinese mainland's tech sector is positioning itself to lead the global AI talent race.
Reference(s):
Chinese tech firms innovate to boost AI talent training and hiring
cgtn.com
