Alibaba boosts AI spending beyond $53B, stock surges 107%

Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares surged over 6% on Wednesday after CEO Eddie Wu announced plans to increase AI spending beyond the company’s existing $53 billion three-year investment commitment. The rally pushed Alibaba’s year-to-date gains above 107%, reaching the stock’s highest level since 2021 as investors responded positively to the company’s expanded artificial intelligence ambitions.

What you should know: Alibaba is doubling down on AI infrastructure and development with additional investments on top of its previously announced spending plan.

• The company initially committed 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) over three years in February for AI infrastructure development.
• CEO Eddie Wu said at Alibaba Cloud’s annual technology conference that the company plans to “sustain and further increase our investment according to our strategic vision in anticipation of the [artificial superintelligence] era.”
• Wu positioned Alibaba Cloud as a “full-stack AI service provider,” delivering computing power for training and deploying large AI models through its own data centers.

New product launches: Alibaba officially unveiled several AI updates during the conference, including its latest large language model.

• The company launched Qwen3-Max, the newest version of its Qwen large language model series.
• Additional updates were rolled out across Alibaba’s broader suite of AI product offerings, though specific details weren’t provided.

The big picture: Alibaba’s AI investment surge comes as the company positions itself for what it calls the “artificial superintelligence era.”

• Artificial superintelligence refers to AI that would hypothetically surpass human brain intelligence and capabilities across all domains.
• This benchmark has become an increasingly important focus for major AI companies worldwide as they race to develop more advanced systems.

Market context: Wu highlighted the massive scale of global AI investment expected in the coming years.

• “The cumulative investment in global AI in the next five years will exceed $4 trillion, and this is the largest investment in computing power and research and development in history,” Wu said.

Stock performance: The announcement drove significant investor enthusiasm for Alibaba’s AI strategy.

• Hong Kong-listed shares jumped over 6% on Wednesday alone.
• The company’s total gains year-to-date have now exceeded 107%.
• Shares reached their highest point since 2021 following the AI investment announcement.