Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, has reportedly reappeared at a school in Hangzhou after disappearing for three years.
Since 2020, when the 58-year-old began to criticize China’s financial regulators, he has maintained a low profile.The most well-known Chinese billionaire to vanish during a crackdown on tech entrepreneurs was Mr. Ma.
According to the South China Morning Post, he recently made his way back to China after spending more than a year abroad.He made a brief stopover in Hong Kong, where he met friends and also briefly visited Art Basel, an international art fair, according to the Alibaba-owned newspaper.
It went on to say that Mr. Ma has been traveling to various nations to learn about agricultural technology, but it made no mention of the reason he had vanished from view in recent years.Former English teacher Mr. Ma visited the Yungu School in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is based, and got to know the faculty and students there.
According to the school’s social media page, he discussed how artificial intelligence may present difficulties for educators.
“The era of artificial intelligence is just getting started with tools like ChatGPT. Instead of being controlled by artificial intelligence, we should use it to solve problems “said he.
Formerly the richest man in China, Mr. Ma relinquished control of the massive Ant Group in January of this year.
Some commentators interpreted it as additional proof that he had run afoul of the Chinese Communist Party due to his outspokenness and excessive power.
At a financial conference in October 2020, Mr. Ma claimed that conventional banks had a “pawn-shop mentality.”
The world’s largest stock market flotation, expected to raise £26 billion from Ant the following month, was abruptly shelved by Chinese regulators due to “major issues” with the company’s regulation.
Since then, sightings of him have reportedly occurred in a number of nations, including Spain, the Netherlands, Thailand, and Australia.
The Financial Times reported in November of last year that Mr. Ma had been residing in Tokyo, Japan, for six months.There were rumors that Mr. Ma had been detained or put under house arrest when he first stopped appearing in public.
