Alibaba to Spend $53 Billion on AI Infrastructure in Big Pivot

(Bloomberg) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) has pledged to invest more than 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) on AI infrastructure such as data centers over the next three years, a major commitment that underscores the e-commerce pioneer’s ambitions of becoming a leader in artificial intelligence.

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The internet company co-founded by Jack Ma plans to spend more on its AI and cloud computing network than it has over the past decade. Alibaba envisions becoming a key partner to companies developing and applying AI to the real world as models evolve and need increasing amounts of computing power, the company said on its official blog.

Alibaba is righting a business knocked off-kilter by a government clampdown that began in 2020, refocusing its ambitions on e-commerce and AI. Last week, Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu declared that Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI, was now its primary objective, joining a race so far led by the likes of OpenAI and big US firms from Microsoft Corp. to Alphabet Inc.

Major technology firms from Meta Platforms Inc. to Amazon.com Inc. have similarly pledged billions toward the data centers needed to train, develop and host AI services — a vote of confidence in the technology’s future. Yet Wall Street has begun to question whether there will be enough demand to use up all that capacity, particularly after Chinese upstart DeepSeek unveiled a model trained for a fraction of the cost of many of its rivals. Microsoft expects to spend $80 billion this fiscal year on AI data centers, while Meta has earmarked some $65 billion for 2025.

Still, investors have applauded Alibaba’s growing determination to compete in artificial intelligence. Wu’s reference to AGI — powerful, hypothetical AI systems that could emulate or match human thinking capabilities — is striking in the context of Alibaba’s traditional online retail business.

Alibaba has gained more than $100 billion of market value in 2025, though it’s still far from its pre-crackdown peak. Ma himself joined a select group of the biggest names in Chinese technology and business at a televised summit convened this week by Chinese President Xi Jinping — signifying Alibaba’s return to favor after years in the cold. The gathering featured entrepreneurs across a broad swath of industry, notably from the sphere of artificial intelligence.