Alibaba (9988.HK) announced on Wednesday a wide-ranging push into artificial intelligence (AI), unveiling a partnership with Nvidia, a global data centre expansion plan, and new AI products, as it seeks to make artificial intelligence a core business priority alongside its e-commerce operations.
The news sent its Hong Kong-listed shares soaring nearly 10% to a four-year high, with U.S.-listed shares (BABA.N) also jumping almost 10% in pre-market trading, as investors welcomed the company’s AI drive amid intensifying competition from domestic rivals such as DeepSeek and Tencent (0700.HK).
Speaking at the annual Apsara Conference, Alibaba’s chief executive Eddie Wu said, “The speed of AI industry development has far exceeded our expectations, and the industry’s demand for AI infrastructure has also far exceeded our expectations.”
He added that the company would step up spending, though without disclosing figures. Earlier this year, Alibaba pledged 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) in AI infrastructure over three years.
Nvidia partnership and global data centres
At the conference, Alibaba revealed plans to work with U.S. chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) on physical AI capabilities including data synthesis, model training, environmental simulation and validation testing.
It also announced that its first data centres in Brazil, France and the Netherlands will open soon, with further facilities planned for Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Dubai over the next year. This will add to its existing network of 91 data centres across 29 regions worldwide. The company did not say if the new sites would use Nvidia chips.
According to Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia, “Alibaba’s 2025 Apsara Conference demonstrated strong results from years of AI investment. The overseas data centre investments will help expand Alibaba’s influence among international AI developers and enterprise users.”
The expansion follows Nvidia’s recent announcement of a deal to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and provide it with data centre chips.
New AI models and products
Alibaba also introduced its most advanced AI language model yet, the Qwen3-Max, which has more than one trillion parametres. Chief technology officer Zhou Jingren said the model excels in code generation and autonomous agent capabilities, meaning it requires fewer human prompts than systems such as ChatGPT and can independently pursue user-defined goals.
On benchmarks such as Tau2-Bench, Alibaba claimed Qwen3-Max outperformed competitors including Anthropic’s Claude and DeepSeek-V3.1 in several categories. The Qwen3 series was first released in April.
Other launches included Qwen3-Omni, a multimodal system for immersive experiences in virtual and augmented reality, designed for applications such as smart glasses and intelligent vehicle cockpits.
Cloud business momentum
Alibaba’s pivot towards AI has already delivered results. Last month, the company reported strong quarterly earnings driven by its cloud business, where revenue rose 26%, underscoring its progress in turning AI into a major growth engine.
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European countries and the United States presented a united front in support of Ukraine, unveiling security guarantees backed by Washington and a detailed plan for long-term assistance contingent on a ceasefire with Russia.
Iran has executed a man accused of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, the country’s judiciary reported on Wednesday, 7 January, amid an intensifying campaign against alleged foreign agents.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday (7 January), that significant progress has been made in restoring trust with China. He also reiterated that relations with Japan are equally important for Seoul’s diplomacy amid shifting regional dynamics.
Germany’s foreign intelligence service secretly monitored the telephone communications of former U.S. President Barack Obama for several years, including calls made aboard Air Force One, according to an investigation by the German newspaper Die Zeit.
Israeli media report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chaired a lengthy security meeting that reportedly focused on the country’s regional threats, including Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.
At the end of last year, U.S. President Donald Trump was reported to have raised the Azerbaijan–Armenia peace agenda during a conversation with Israel’s prime minister, warning that if peace were not achieved, Washington could raise tariffs on both countries by 100 percent.
President Ilham Aliyev said 2025 has politically closed the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, as a Trump-era reset in U.S. ties, new transport corridors and a push into AI, renewables and defence production reshape Azerbaijan’s priorities.
Protests continued into another day in Iran, with crowds returning to the streets despite mounting pressure from the authorities. By scale and spread, the unrest has entered its most significant phase so far.
The U.S. dollar has strengthened against major peers on Tuesday, while the euro fell following slower-than-expected inflation in Europe. Market movements were relatively subdued as investors focused on upcoming U.S. economic data.
Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday, boosted by optimism over artificial intelligence (AI) and a strong rally in Moderna shares, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaching a record high.
India’s largest oil refiner, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), has taken a significant step towards diversifying its crude oil supply by purchasing Colombian crude, from state oil company Ecopetrol, for the first time.
China has given the nod for car makers to sell Level 3 self-driving vehicles from as early as next year after it approved two electric sedans from Changan Auto and BAIC Motors.
Warner Bros Discovery’s board rejected Paramount Skydance’s $108.4 billion hostile bid on Wednesday (17 December), citing insufficient financing guarantees.
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