Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) announced on Monday a staggering 380 billion yuan ($52.4 billion) investment in its cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, set to roll out over the next three years. This move, the largest technology investment in the company’s history, highlights Alibaba’s ambition to lead the charge in AI innovation and strengthen its standing as a top global cloud provider.
Following the announcement, Hong Kong-listed Alibaba shares rose 0.7% to HK$139.40 as of 02:50 GMT, reaching their highest level since November 2021. The uptick reflects a positive initial response from the market.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) latest quarterly earnings, released last week. For the December quarter, the company reported revenue of 280.15 billion yuan, up 7.6% from the previous year—a figure that slightly beat analysts’ expectations.
Alibaba Cloud, already the company’s fastest-growing segment, posted an 11% year-over-year revenue increase. Even more striking, revenue from AI-related products surged with triple-digit growth, a trend that’s held strong for six consecutive quarters.
During the earnings call, CEO Eddie Wu called AI a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity, emphasizing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) as the company’s long-term goal. He also pointed out that cloud services remain the primary revenue driver in AI, fueled by rising demand for AI hosting solutions.
