Asia Tech Wire (Oct 11) -- Former Alibaba vice president Luo Si has joined Chinese smart car supplier Banma, according to Chinese media outlet Jiemian.

Si, a tenured professor at Purdue University, was previously executive vice president of Salesforce, the world's largest SaaS company, vice president of Alibaba Group, and head of Alibaba DAMO Academy's Language Technology Laboratory.

He recently joined Banma, Alibaba-backed automotive technology unicorn, as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

According to sources within Banma, Si will lead the startup's technology team, including full-stack self-developed vehicle OS, intelligent cabin AI based on Alibaba's Tongyi large language models (LLMs), accelerating the research and development of cutting-edge technology of large AI models, and realizing the strategic upgrading of AIOS.

Banma has SAIC Motor, FAW Group, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Nissan and other customers for its smart cabin products and solutions.