Alibaba co-founder Eddie Wu will assume the position of CEO of the company, effective on September 10, according to an announcement made by Alibaba on Tuesday. In addition, Joseph Tsai will succeed Daniel Zhang as the chairman of the e-commerce giant. Zhang will continue to lead Alibaba Cloud, the group’s cloud intelligence unit, which launched its own ChatGPT-style service in April. The unexpected succession plan follows Alibaba’s largest-ever restructuring, which allows its six business groups to pursue separate IPOs or external funding, enabling them to adapt to market changes more effectively. Zhang stated in a press release that this is the “right time” for him to transition as the cloud group prepares for a complete spin-off. He assumed responsibility for the cloud business directly following a significant cloud services outage in Hong Kong last December. Eddie Wu will also retain his position as chairman of Taobao Tmall, Alibaba’s domestic shopping business. [TechNode reporting]