Alibaba will raise its AI spending beyond its original 380 billion yuan plan, as CEO Eddie Wu set bigger goals for models and infrastructure. Shares rose in Hong Kong after the update.
Alibaba boosts AI push and global cloud footprint
Wu said global AI investment could reach about $4 trillion in five years, and Alibaba must keep pace. He plans to add to the February pledge to spend more than 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) over three years.
The company will roll out Qwen models and full-stack AI tech, which includes chips. Its cloud unit will open its first data centers in Brazil, France and the Netherlands in the coming year.
According to Yahoo Finance, Alibaba’s shares climbed as much as 7.8% in Hong Kong after the news. Chinese chipmakers also gained, including ACM Research (Shanghai) Inc. and NAURA Technology Group Co.
Wu told a developer conference that demand for AI infrastructure exceeded expectations. He said Alibaba is proceeding with the 380 billion yuan investment and plans to add more.
AI spending outlook and model launches
Bloomberg Intelligence said AI capex by Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and JD.com could top $32 billion in 2025. That compares with just under $13 billion in 2023.
Alibaba unveiled its new Qwen3-Max large language model and other upgrades on Wednesday. All major Chinese internet firms are racing to build AI models, such as Tencent’s Hunyuan and Baidu’s Ernie.
Cloud growth, chip strategy, and pressure on Nvidia reliance
Alibaba reported triple-digit growth in AI-related products last quarter. Cloud sales rose 26%, the fastest in the group.
Union Bancaire Privee’s Vey-Sern Ling said rising AI investment shows better visibility on returns. He said it signals demand from customers and good ROI.
Alibaba still faces limits on access to Nvidia processors due to US export controls. Beijing urged firms not to use Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D.
Wu discussed in-house hardware, including chips, faster computers and networking. Chinese state media said China Unicom would deploy Alibaba’s Pingtouge or T-Head AI accelerators.
Alibaba has tried to reduce reliance on US suppliers for years. It bought Hangzhou C-Sky Microsystems Co. in 2018 and set up its T-Head semiconductor unit that year.
Huawei also set a three-year roadmap to challenge Nvidia’s dominance. It outlined next-generation AI chips and SuperPod designs, but production scale remains unclear.
