Where is T-Head headquartered?

T-Head is headquartered in Hangzhou / Shanghai, China. The company has a team of 500+ people.

T-Head operates in the AI Chips / Semiconductors sector. Alibaba Group's wholly-owned semiconductor design subsidiary building the Zhenwu line of data-center AI chips, Xuantie RISC-V processor IP, and full-stack chip-to-cloud AI infrastructure for China's domestic compute ecosystem. Provides domestically-designed, high-performance AI training/inference chips (Zhenwu series) and processor IP (Xuantie RISC-V) to reduce China's reliance on foreign (Nvidia) chips amid export controls, tightly integrated with Alibaba Cloud infrastructure.

When was T-Head founded?

T-Head was founded in 2018. It is based in Hangzhou / Shanghai, China.

Who is the CEO of T-Head?

包文俊 (Bao Wenjun) is the CEO of T-Head. The company was founded in 2018.

Where is T-Head located?

T-Head is headquartered in Hangzhou / Shanghai, China.

What funding stage is T-Head at?

T-Head is currently at the Active stage.

How many employees does T-Head have?

T-Head has approximately 500+ employees.

T-Head

Category: AI Chips / Semiconductors

Alibaba Group's wholly-owned semiconductor design subsidiary building the Zhenwu line of data-center AI chips, Xuantie RISC-V processor IP, and full-stack chip-to-cloud AI infrastructure for China's domestic compute ecosystem. T-Head was founded in 2018. The company is led by 包文俊 (Bao Wenjun). Based in Hangzhou / Shanghai, China. Team size: 500+. Key investors include Alibaba Group (parent company, sole shareholder).

Founded: 2018
Headquarters: Hangzhou / Shanghai, China
Team size: 500+

Value proposition

Provides domestically-designed, high-performance AI training/inference chips (Zhenwu series) and processor IP (Xuantie RISC-V) to reduce China's reliance on foreign (Nvidia) chips amid export controls, tightly integrated with Alibaba Cloud infrastructure.

Products and solutions

Zhenwu 810E and Zhenwu M890 (data-center AI training/inference chips, M890 with 144GB HBM), Zhenwu V900 AI processor, Hanguang 800 (AI inference chip), Xuantie (玄铁) RISC-V processor IP series, Yitian 710 server CPU, T-Head SAIL open-source software stack for chip toolchain.

Unique value

Full-stack 'chip-cloud-model' (芯云模一体) integration under Alibaba Cloud, positioning as a domestic alternative to Nvidia H20-class hardware amid US export restrictions.

Target customer

Chinese cloud providers, autonomous driving companies, internet/AI platforms, and enterprises needing domestic AI compute alternatives (primarily Alibaba Cloud's own infrastructure plus external China-based customers).

Industries served

Cloud computing/data centers, autonomous driving/EV, IoT, general enterprise AI infrastructure

Technology advantage

Vertical integration with Alibaba Cloud (largest captive customer/deployment channel in China), in-house RISC-V IP (Xuantie), recently open-sourced Zhenwu/SAIL software stack to build developer ecosystem, reported chip shipments (~600K+ PPU units by Q1 2026) surpassing rival Cambricon.

How they differentiate

Unlike pure-play AI chip startups, T-Head benefits from guaranteed internal demand via Alibaba Cloud plus RISC-V IP licensing revenue; recently shifted to an open-source software strategy (T-Head SAIL) to build ecosystem lock-in similar to Nvidia's CUDA moat.

Main competitors

Cambricon (寒武纪), Huawei HiSilicon/Ascend, Biren Technology (壁仞科技)

Key partnerships

Alibaba Cloud (parent/primary deployment channel), Ant Group, XPeng, Xiaohongshu (customers in production per Sept 2026 reporting), 30+ automakers/autonomous-driving solution providers using T-Head chips on Alibaba Cloud for AI/ADAS workloads.

Notable customers

Ant Group, XPeng, Xiaohongshu (production deployments per Sept 2026 reporting), Alibaba Cloud (primary internal customer), 30+ automakers/ADAS providers

Major milestones

Sept 2018: founded via merger of C-SKY (中天微) and Damo Academy chip R&D team, 2019: Hanguang 800 AI inference chip launched, Feb 2023: registered capital raised to ¥300M, Jan 2026: Bloomberg reports Alibaba exploring IPO/employee-ownership restructuring for T-Head, Jan 2026: Zhenwu 810E unveiled, May 2026: Zhenwu M890 (144GB HBM) unveiled, claimed China's most powerful AI chip, Jun 2026: registered capital tripled to ¥1B, Sept 2026: open-sourced more of Zhenwu/SAIL software stack with Ant Group, XPeng, Xiaohongshu in production.

Growth metrics

As of April 2026, cumulative Zhenwu-chip shipments reached 560,000 units, supporting more than 400 customers across over 20 industries. In June 2026, the Shanghai entity’s registered capital changed from RMB300M to RMB1B; Bloomberg reported in January that Alibaba was exploring an IPO after a potential employee-ownership restructuring.

Market positioning

Positioned as China's leading hyperscaler-affiliated AI chip designer, competing for domestic AI compute market share as export controls limit Nvidia access; reportedly outshipping Cambricon in unit volume, though Huawei Ascend remains the overall domestic AI chip market leader (~50% share).

Geographic focus

China domestic market, with strategic relevance to broader China vs. US semiconductor competition.

Patents and IP

Xuantie (玄铁) RISC-V processor IP core family (proprietary licensing business); T-Head SAIL software stack now open-sourced.

About 包文俊 (Bao Wenjun)

Legal representative and executive director of multiple Alibaba-affiliated entities including T-Head (Shanghai) Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. and Alibaba (Beijing) Smart Technology Co., Ltd.; operational AI-chip business publicly represented by VP 高慧 (Gao Hui) at Alibaba Cloud events.

Latest news about T-Head

Alibaba's T-Head Open-Sources More of Its Zhenwu AI Chip Software Stack

More AI Chips / Semiconductors companies

Official website: https://www.t-head.cn