# Ele.me

Joseph Tsai Says Jack Ma Once 'Fired' Him — and Signals Alibaba's New, Narrower Focus on AI and Cloud

At a Stanford Business School interview, Alibaba chairman Joseph Tsai revealed Jack Ma once removed him from an operations role early in Alibaba's history and described the company's renewed strategic focus: concentrate on e-commerce, expand AI and cloud (with an eye toward GPU demand), and deprioritize non-core assets. He framed these choices as pragmatic responses to market realities and the need for clear priorities.