Alibaba to invest more than $52 billion in AI over next 3 years

Alibaba said on Monday it plans to invest at least 380 billion yuan ($52.44 billion) in its cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure over the next three years.

The Chinese e-commerce giant had said it had plans to invest in the sector while announcing its results on Friday, but did not provide an exact figure at the time.

Alibaba plans to "invest at least 380 billion yuan 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 company had reported revenue of 280.15 billion yuan for the three months ended December 31, marginally ahead of analysts' estimates.

Alibaba last week reported an eight per cent bump in revenue for the three months through December, beating estimates to reach 280 billion yuan — and triggering a 14% 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".

Alibaba said the total investment amount exceeds the company's spending in AI and cloud computing over the past decade.

The company has kicked off 2025 as a winner in China's AI race, drawing in investors with strategic business deals. Its stock has risen more than 68% this year, as of last close.

Other Chinese firms have also been investing into the sector, with ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, earmarking over 150 billion yuan in capital expenditure for this year, much of which will be centred on AI according to sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported in late January.

With additional input from AFP