Chinese state-owned AI firm hires former IBM executive as chief technology officer

Last year, IBM scaled down its R&D operations in China, joining a long list of global tech firms that have trimmed their mainland businesses

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Published: 6:00pm, 3 Jan 2025

A state-owned artificial intelligence (AI) company has appointed a former IBM China executive as its chief technology officer (CTO), in the latest example of a Chinese firm scooping up talent, as multinationals scale back operations in the country.

Beijing Electronic Digital and Intelligence (BEDI), a state-owned firm providing computing power and cloud computing infrastructure for AI applications, said in a statement on Thursday that it appointed Xie Dong, a veteran in technology management at IBM’s China operations, as CTO.

Xie previously served as CTO at IBM Greater China Group, vice-president at IBM China Systems Lab, and the director of the IBM China Research Lab. A Tsinghua University graduate, he worked at IBM for nearly three decades.

Xie said he decided to join BEDI as the company was deeply involved in generative AI technologies in China. Photo: Xinhua

The appointment comes as foreign firms are scaling back operations in China owing to escalating geopolitical tensions. IBM has significantly cut back its research and development operations in China, joining a long list of global Big Tech firms that have trimmed their mainland businesses. In August last year, Chinese media reported that IBM was closing its China Development Lab and China Systems Lab, laying off over 1,000 employees in cities including Beijing, Shanghai and the northern port city Dalian.

Xie was a key talent in IBM’s semiconductor operations in China, building it from scratch and promoting its “end-to-end development” in China, according to mainland media outlet Jiemian.

Xie said in a statement that he decided to join BEDI, which is controlled by Beijing Electronics Holding, as the company was deeply involved in generative AI technology in China.

In his new role, Xie will help BEDI optimise AI models’ predictive capabilities and ensure its AI solutions are more cost-effective. BEDI plays an important role in the Chinese capital city’s computing infrastructure, as one of its projects is the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Centre.