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.
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