China's Alibaba to Invest $50 Bn in AI, Cloud Computing

(FILES) The logo of Alibaba is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
(FILES) The logo of Alibaba is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
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China's Alibaba to Invest $50 Bn in AI, Cloud Computing

(FILES) The logo of Alibaba is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)
(FILES) The logo of Alibaba is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)

Chinese tech giant Alibaba said Monday it will spend more than $50 billion on artificial intelligence and cloud computing over the next three years, a week after co-founder Jack Ma was seen meeting President Xi Jinping.

Investors have piled into Chinese technology stocks since the start of the year, with Alibaba -- which runs some of the country's biggest online shopping platforms -- seeing its shares soar to three-year highs, AFP reported.

The gains have been boosted since the Hangzhou-based firm announced robust sales growth last week, adding to signs that the sector is staging a comeback from years of gloom sparked by a government crackdown.

Alibaba plans to "invest at least 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) over the next three years to advance its cloud computing and AI infrastructure,” a company statement said.
The firm said its strategy was aimed at "reinforcing (Alibaba's) commitment to long-term technological innovation... (and) underscores the company's focus on AI-driven growth.”

The statement did not detail how the company would allocate the funds or what specific projects would be supported.

It did add that the investment would exceed its total AI and cloud spending over the past decade.

Alibaba last week reported an eight percent bump in revenue for the three months through December, beating estimates to reach 280 billion yuan -- and triggering a 14 percent surge in its Hong Kong shares on Friday.

CEO Eddie Wu said last week that the quarterly results "demonstrated substantial progress in (Alibaba's) 'user-first, AI-driven' strategies and the re-accelerated growth of our core businesses.”

The company and its industry peers endured years of dampened investor confidence after Beijing launched an aggressive regulatory crackdown on the tech sector in 2020.

But they have been riding higher in recent months, buoyed by the launch of a chatbot by Chinese startup DeepSeek that has upended the AI industry.

The turnaround comes as the world's second-largest economy continues to battle sluggish consumption and persistent woes in the property sector.

At a rare meeting with business luminaries last week, Xi hailed the private sector and said the current economic problems were "surmountable" -- a move widely interpreted as a show of support for big tech.

Ma remains an influential figure despite no longer being an Alibaba executive and shunning the limelight since authorities brought down affiliate Ant Group's high-stakes IPO in 2020.

His inclusion in the meeting hinted at the billionaire magnate's potential public rehabilitation following the tangle with regulators.



Trump Offers Support to Musk's Car Company in a Surprising Post as Tesla Stock Plunges

Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images/File Photo
Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images/File Photo
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Trump Offers Support to Musk's Car Company in a Surprising Post as Tesla Stock Plunges

Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images/File Photo
Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images/File Photo

President Donald Trump took to social media Thursday morning to support Elon Musk's car company, a startling development given their bitter public feud.

”I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, Reuters reported.

The post wasn't enough to help Tesla's stock, which fell sharply after the company reported another quarter of lackluster financial results and Musk warned of some potentially “rough quarters” into next year. At midday, the stock was down around 9%.

Late Wednesday, Tesla said revenue fell 12% and profit dropped 16% in the April-June quarter. Many prospective buyers have been turned off by Musk’s foray into right-wing politics, and the competition has ramped up in key markets such as Europe and China.

Investors have been unnerved by Musk's social media spat with the president because Trump has threatened to retaliate by ending government contracts and breaks for Musk's various businesses, including Tesla.

But Trump struck a starkly different tone Thursday morning.

“Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon’s companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the US Government. This is not so!" Trump wrote. “The better they do, the better the USA does, and that’s good for all of us.”

After Trump's massive budget bill passed earlier this month, Tesla faces the loss of the $7,500 EV tax credit and stands to make much less money from selling regulatory credits to other automakers. Trump’s tariffs on countries including China and Mexico will also cost Tesla hundreds of millions of dollars, the company said on its earnings call.

Musk has blasted the budget bill on his own social media platform X for adding to US debt at a time when it is already too large. The Tesla CEO has called the budget pushed by the president a “disgusting abomination” and has threatened to form a new political party.

On Wednesday's call, Musk said the electric vehicle maker will face “a few rough quarters” as it moves into a future focused less on selling cars and more on offering people rides in self-driving cars. He also talked up the company's business making humanoid robotics. But he acknowledged those businesses are a ways off from contributing to Tesla’s bottom line.

Tesla began a rollout in June of its paid robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and hopes to introduce the driverless cabs in several other cities soon. Musk told analysts that the service will be available to probably “half of the population of the US by the end of the year — that’s at least our goal, subject to regulatory approvals.”

“We’re in this weird transition period where we’ll lose a lot of incentives in the US,” Musk said, adding that Tesla “probably could have a few rough quarters” ahead. He added, though, “Once you get to autonomy at scale in the second half of next year, certainly by the end of next year, I would be surprised if Tesla’s economics are not very compelling.”