Bitcoin price today: falls to 2-week low below $113k ahead of Fed Jackson Hole
Investing.com-- Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) said Monday it plans to invest 380 billion yuan ($52.4 billion) over the next three years to boost its cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, marking its largest technology investment to date.
The move underscores Alibaba’s ambition to lead in AI-driven growth and solidify its position as a global cloud provider, the company said.
Hong Kong-listed Alibaba (HK:9988) climbed during the session, hitting a 3-year high, but shares later reversed the gains and closed 2% lower. Alibaba’s US-listed shares were down 9% shortly after noon on Wall Street Monday.
According to Jefferies analysts, the 380 billion yuan capex commitment aligns with the company’s earnings call last week and matches Wall Street expectations.
"Alibaba Cloud is a key player and outpaces peers in terms of capex spend, helping to foster sector development in the pursuit of AGI, intelligence enhancement and open strategy," analysts Thomas Chong and Zoey Zong said in a note.
In its latest quarterly report released last week, Alibaba reported a 7.6% year-over-year increase in revenue for the December quarter, totaling 280.15 billion yuan, slightly surpassing analysts’ expectations.
During the earnings call, CEO Eddie Wu called AI a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity, highlighting Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) as the company’s long-term goal.
Alibaba Cloud, already the company’s fastest-growing segment, saw an 11% year-over-year revenue increase last quarter, with AI-related product revenue posting triple-digit growth for the sixth consecutive quarter.
Wu emphasized that cloud services remain Alibaba’s primary revenue driver in AI, fueled by rising demand for AI hosting solutions.
Ayushman Ojha and Vahid Karaahmetovic contributed to this report.