China's Alibaba to invest $53bln in building AI infrastructure: Report
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Alibaba Group plans to invest in AI cloud and hardware infrastructure, marking the largest investment by a Chinese private enterprise in this sector.
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A smartphone displays Alibaba's AI-powered assistant Tongyi, undated. (AFP via Getty Images)
The Xinhua news agency reports that Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group will invest more than 380 billion yuan (around $53 billion) in building cloud and hardware infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
According to the Chinese publication Penpai, this marks a record volume of investments by Chinese private enterprises in manufacturing cloud and hardware infrastructure for AI.
Alibaba announced its investment amid two significant developments: the rapid expansion of China's AI industry and a symposium on private enterprise development held earlier in February. Government officials, including President Xi Jinping, and major private companies attended the symposium.
Speaking at the symposium on February 17, the Chinese president highlighted the vast development opportunities and significant potential of China’s private economy. He emphasized that the present moment is ideal for private enterprises to showcase their capabilities. Xi Jinping also urged efforts to advance the high-quality growth of the nation’s private sector.
Alibaba Cloud unveiled its latest AI language model in late January, Qwen 2.5-Max, which the developer claims surpasses the company's DeepSeek model in performance.
Alibaba Group, China's largest internet company specializing in e-commerce, was founded by Jack Ma in 1999. The company also owns several subsidiaries and online platforms, including Alibaba Pictures, Alibaba.com, AliExpress.com, Taobao.com, and Tmall.com.
Read next: Alibaba unveils Qwen2.5-Max, strengthening China's AI push
It is worth noting that Alibaba announced on April 2, 2023, plans to split its business into six separate units, a move that promises to radically reshape the sprawling Chinese e-commerce firm founded by Jack Ma nearly 25 years ago.
The company revealed that each new business unit will be led by its CEO and board of directors. According to a company statement issued on Tuesday, five of the new business groups "will also have the flexibility to raise outside capital and potentially seek its own IPO."
