Alibaba Group Holding has pledged to invest over 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) in artificial intelligence infrastructure, such as data centers, over the next three years. This central commitment underscores the ambitions of the leading e-commerce giant to become a leader in artificial intelligence.
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The e-commerce company, co-founded by Jack Ma, plans to spend more on its AI and cloud computing network than it has over the past decade.
In a statement on its official blog, the company said that Alibaba plans to become a key partner for companies that develop and apply artificial intelligence in the real world, given the evolution of AI models and their increasing demand for computing power.
Global Interest in Artificial Intelligence
Alibaba is adjusting some of its operations, which veered off course due to a government campaign that began in 2020, and is refocusing its ambitions on e-commerce and AI. Last week, CEO Eddie Wu announced that general AI (AGI) is now its primary goal, joining a race currently led by companies such as OpenAI and major U.S. firms like Microsoft and Alphabet.
Similarly, major tech companies, such as Meta and Amazon, have committed billions of dollars to data centers necessary for AI training, development, and hosting services, which represents a vote of confidence in the future of the technology.
However, Wall Street is starting to question whether demand will be sufficient to absorb all of this capacity, especially after the Chinese startup DeepSeek unveiled a model trained at a fraction of the cost compared to many of its competitors. Microsoft expects to spend $80 billion on AI data centers in the current fiscal year, while Meta has allocated around $65 billion for 2025.
Alibaba and Artificial Intelligence
Nonetheless, investors have praised Alibaba’s increasing determination to compete in the AI field. Wu's reference to general AI—virtual AI systems that can simulate or rival human thinking abilities—is particularly notable in the context of Alibaba’s traditional online retail operations.
The market capitalization of Alibaba Group has risen by more than $100 billion since the beginning of 2025, although it is still far from the peak it reached before the government campaign against it.
Jack Ma himself joined a select group of major names in the tech and Chinese business world at a televised summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, indicating Alibaba's return to favor with the authorities after years of estrangement. The gathering included entrepreneurs from a wide range of industries, especially from the AI sector, according to Bloomberg.
