From Shopping to Superintelligence: Alibaba's Bold AI Gambit

TECH

By Aniket Chakraborty Feb 22, 2025 Arrow

The company's cloud business saw 13% growth last quarter, with AI-related products showing triple-digit growth.

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Despite being an e-commerce giant, Alibaba is now positioning itself as an AI company with ambitious expansion plans.

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Alibaba's stock surged up to 11% in premarket trading following strong earnings that beat analyst estimates.

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The company plans to invest more in cloud and AI infrastructure over the next three years than it has in the past decade.

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Qwen, Alibaba's open-source AI model, has gained wide adoption and performed well on generative AI leaderboards.

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Wu emphasizes that if AGI is achieved, the AI industry could become the world's largest industry.

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The company aims to develop models that "extend the boundaries of intelligence" while maintaining its e-commerce core.

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Alibaba, founded in 1999 as an e-commerce platform, is now competing in China's rapidly developing generative AI market.

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The announcement comes amid increased interest in AI following developments like DeepSeek's lower-cost model.

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