A co-founder of China's food delivery giant Meituan has returned to the company to lead its efforts in artificial intelligence (AI), as Big Tech firms rush to adopt the fast-developing technology in their operations, according to local media.

Wang Huiwen, who stepped down last year as non-executive director and member of the nomination committee, will be partially in charge of Meituan's generative AI endeavour, tech news site 36Kr reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.

Wang, 46, will head the so-called GN06 team to explore new AI-related opportunities. The team is independent from other Meituan business units, including the existing in-house team responsible for AI models, according to the report. One of GN06's flagship products is an AI companion called Wow.

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Meituan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shares of the company gained 5.6 per cent on Thursday, closing at HK$199.9 (US$25.7).

A Meituan food-delivery courier in Beijing. Photo: Simon Song alt=A Meituan food-delivery courier in Beijing. Photo: Simon Song>

Wang has previously shown interest in AI. In February last year, several months after OpenAI debuted its groundbreaking ChatGPT bot that triggered a global AI arms race, Wang founded AI start-up Light Year, pledging a US$50 million investment from his own pocket.

As Wang's personal health deteriorated, however, Meituan acquired the firm four months later.

The return of Wang, one of the closest aides to co-founder and chief executive Wang Xing, underscores the firm's urgency in accelerating the adoption of AI amid heated competition with rival tech companies.

Meituan has been on a hiring spree for AI talent in a variety of businesses. Openings listed on its official website and third-party recruitment platform Boss Zhipin include AI model trainers, AI product and operations managers for Meituan's bread-and-butter local commerce unit, and industry research and investment experts with a focus on AI for the firm's corporate investment platform.

The company promises a monthly salary of up to 80,000 yuan (US$11,166) for an AI agent algorithm engineer.

One role, listed as an AI talent recruiter for the human resources department, is tasked with "trying all means to find top AI talent and persuade them to talk to us", and "taking care of them" so that "the 'heroes' will work for us", according to the job description.