Zhou Bowen (周伯文)

Director and Chief Scientist of Shanghai AI Laboratory, taking the helm in 2024 following the death of founding director and SenseTime co-founder Tang Xiao'ou. Concurrently Huiyan Chair Professor and tenured Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering at Tsinghua University (since May 2022).

Spent 2003–2017 at IBM, rising to Chief Scientist of the Watson Group and Director of AI Foundations Labs, with the rank of IBM Distinguished Engineer. Then joined JD.com as Senior Vice President, Chair of the Technology Committee, and President of JD Cloud & AI, leading the company's AI research and product strategy. Founded the AI start-up Frontis after JD.

Has emerged as one of the most internationally prominent state-lab directors in China, combining AGI advocacy with a vocal stance on safety and governance for frontier model development. PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder; MS from the Chinese Academy of Sciences; BS from USTC.