It did not take long to see the first major AI talent reshuffling of 2019. Multiple sources are now confirming that reputed AI researcher Dr. Tong Zhang left his position as Executive Director of Tencent AI Lab effective December 31. Rumours suggest Zhang might return to teaching.



Zhang became Executive Director of Tencent AI Lab on February 23rd, 2017, scarcely a year after the lab’s founding. Since then he has led hundreds of AI experts, researchers and engineers on basic research in artificial intelligence. Tencent’s main research fields include computer vision, speech recognition, natural language processing and machine learning.

Before joining Tencent, Zhang was a professor at Rutgers University, worked at IBM Research, and directed Yahoo Research and Baidu Research. He received his Bachelor’s in Mathematics and Computer Science from Cornell University and his Master’s and PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University.



Zhang’s research interests include machine learning algorithms and theory, and statistical methods for big data and their applications. He is a fellow of ASA and IMS, and has served on the editorial boards of leading machine learning journals and on program committees for top machine learning conferences.



Although there has been no official statement on where Zhang is heading, rumours suggest he may take over the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Computer Science Department.



Dr. Zhengyou Zhang, who had been Director of Tencent’s Robotics X division, has now taken the helm at Tencent AI Lab.