Latest news with #AlibabaCloud
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Alibaba, Standard Chartered partner to accelerate AI adoption in banking sector
The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding that would see Standard Chartered leverage solutions from Alibaba Cloud – the Hangzhou -based firm's AI and cloud computing services arm – to enhance operational efficiency and elevate customer experience, according to a statement on Tuesday from Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post. 'Through this strategic alliance, we will combine Alibaba's technological expertise with Standard Chartered's deep industry knowledge to unlock new possibilities,' Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu Yongming said. Their cooperation includes building AI-powered customer engagement tools, automating risk management and compliance, and talent development at the bank through AI workshops and certifications for employees. 'From education to healthcare and scientific research, AI has already shown its potential to drive transformational change,' Wu said.
Globe and Mail
10 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Alibaba's AI Ambitions: 3 Strategic Bets Investors Should Watch Closely
Key Points Qwen is Alibaba Group's AI crown jewel. Alibaba Cloud is evolving into an AI powerhouse. AI is reprogramming Alibaba's core commerce engine. 10 stocks we like better than Alibaba Group › Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) has spent the past few years navigating regulatory crackdowns, macro uncertainty in China, and intensifying competition. However, behind the scenes, a massive transformation is underway as the tech giant repositions itself as an artificial intelligence (AI)-native company. For investors, this pivot could mark a turning point. While the headlines still focus on sluggish consumer sentiment and slow e-commerce growth, its AI strategy may be the most important long-term story. Let's break down the three strategic bets Alibaba is making in AI and why they matter. Building a foundational, open-source AI engine with Qwen Alibaba's most important AI initiative is Qwen -- a family of large language models that rivals the capabilities of OpenAI's GPT-4, Meta Platforms ' Llama, and Alphabet 's Google Gemini. The tech giant's seriousness in this area is evident in the ongoing releases of new and better versions of Qwen. The latest version, Qwen3, boasts up to 235 billion parameters and has deep multilingual capabilities (119 languages). This latest version compares favorably to the best models from competitors like OpenAI, Deepseek, and Gemini, achieving competitive results in benchmark evaluations of coding, math, and general capabilities. In other words, Alibaba's LLM is as competitive (if not better) than some of the best globally. Unlike closed models from U.S. tech giants, Alibaba is betting big on open AI -- enabling researchers, start-ups, and governments to use and fine-tune Qwen models freely. This approach is not just technically bold but also strategically smart. It enables Alibaba to drive early adoption globally, particularly in Asia and emerging markets where U.S.-based models are less prevalent. As adoption grows, Qwen and Alibaba's tech ecosystem will become the de facto platform that future AI companies rely on. In other words, Qwen could become the engine powering a new ecosystem of Alibaba-backed AI apps and infrastructure. Alibaba Cloud pivots from infrastructure to AI platform For years, Alibaba Cloud was viewed as a regional infrastructure provider, dominant in China but lagging behind global peers in profitability and product sophistication. But that's changing. The company is now rebuilding its cloud around AI, offering a tightly integrated platform that combines compute, application programming interfaces (APIs), developer tools, and its proprietary Qwen models. For instance, with Model Studio, developers can leverage its LLM to build generative AI applications. This vertical integration is essential, as it moves Alibaba Cloud up the value chain -- from basic hosting to full-stack AI enablement. This move unlocks new customers and expands wallet share among existing ones. Strategically, this also leads to deeper customer lock-in due to higher switching costs. Besides, since Qwen is an open-source platform globally, Alibaba has positioned itself well to grow its presence beyond China, particularly in regions where Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure are not dominant players. In other words, the shift to AI-native infrastructure could be the key to Alibaba Cloud's long-term growth and expansion. Reinventing commerce with AI At its core, Alibaba remains a commerce company, but even here, AI plays a central role. Across platforms like Taobao and Tmall, the company is embedding generative AI to perform various tasks for merchants and consumers. For merchants, AI can help improve productivity and sales by automating tasks such as product listings, generating marketing content, and providing customer service. For consumers, AI facilitates personalized recommendations and intelligent search. Internally, AI also helps improve productivity and efficiency, especially in areas such as warehousing, fulfillment, and logistics. By fully integrating AI into commerce, Alibaba aims to reinvent itself as it fends off competitors such as Pinduoduo and Douyin. If done correctly, AI can help Alibaba enhance customer delight and increase operational efficiencies, laying the foundation for its next phase of expansion. What does this mean for investors? While the market remains fixated on China risk and e-commerce fatigue, Alibaba is quietly rebuilding its future around AI. From Qwen to cloud to commerce, it's laying the groundwork for a more intelligent, scalable, and global business. The movement toward AI is not a short-term catalyst -- it's a long-term transformation. But if Alibaba executes, investors may look back and see this as the moment it rewrote its growth story. It's a company worth watching. Should you invest $1,000 in Alibaba Group right now? Before you buy stock in Alibaba Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alibaba Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Lawrence Nga has positions in Alibaba Group and PDD Holdings. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Alibaba's AI Ambitions: 3 Strategic Bets Investors Should Watch Closely
Key Points Qwen is Alibaba Group's AI crown jewel. Alibaba Cloud is evolving into an AI powerhouse. AI is reprogramming Alibaba's core commerce engine. 10 stocks we like better than Alibaba Group › Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) has spent the past few years navigating regulatory crackdowns, macro uncertainty in China, and intensifying competition. However, behind the scenes, a massive transformation is underway as the tech giant repositions itself as an artificial intelligence (AI)-native company. For investors, this pivot could mark a turning point. While the headlines still focus on sluggish consumer sentiment and slow e-commerce growth, its AI strategy may be the most important long-term story. Let's break down the three strategic bets Alibaba is making in AI and why they matter. Building a foundational, open-source AI engine with Qwen Alibaba's most important AI initiative is Qwen -- a family of large language models that rivals the capabilities of OpenAI's GPT-4, Meta Platforms' Llama, and Alphabet's Google Gemini. The tech giant's seriousness in this area is evident in the ongoing releases of new and better versions of Qwen. The latest version, Qwen3, boasts up to 235 billion parameters and has deep multilingual capabilities (119 languages). This latest version compares favorably to the best models from competitors like OpenAI, Deepseek, and Gemini, achieving competitive results in benchmark evaluations of coding, math, and general capabilities. In other words, Alibaba's LLM is as competitive (if not better) than some of the best globally. Unlike closed models from U.S. tech giants, Alibaba is betting big on open AI -- enabling researchers, start-ups, and governments to use and fine-tune Qwen models freely. This approach is not just technically bold but also strategically smart. It enables Alibaba to drive early adoption globally, particularly in Asia and emerging markets where U.S.-based models are less prevalent. As adoption grows, Qwen and Alibaba's tech ecosystem will become the de facto platform that future AI companies rely on. In other words, Qwen could become the engine powering a new ecosystem of Alibaba-backed AI apps and infrastructure. Alibaba Cloud pivots from infrastructure to AI platform For years, Alibaba Cloud was viewed as a regional infrastructure provider, dominant in China but lagging behind global peers in profitability and product sophistication. But that's changing. The company is now rebuilding its cloud around AI, offering a tightly integrated platform that combines compute, application programming interfaces (APIs), developer tools, and its proprietary Qwen models. For instance, with Model Studio, developers can leverage its LLM to build generative AI applications. This vertical integration is essential, as it moves Alibaba Cloud up the value chain -- from basic hosting to full-stack AI enablement. This move unlocks new customers and expands wallet share among existing ones. Strategically, this also leads to deeper customer lock-in due to higher switching costs. Besides, since Qwen is an open-source platform globally, Alibaba has positioned itself well to grow its presence beyond China, particularly in regions where Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure are not dominant players. In other words, the shift to AI-native infrastructure could be the key to Alibaba Cloud's long-term growth and expansion. Reinventing commerce with AI At its core, Alibaba remains a commerce company, but even here, AI plays a central role. Across platforms like Taobao and Tmall, the company is embedding generative AI to perform various tasks for merchants and consumers. For merchants, AI can help improve productivity and sales by automating tasks such as product listings, generating marketing content, and providing customer service. For consumers, AI facilitates personalized recommendations and intelligent search. Internally, AI also helps improve productivity and efficiency, especially in areas such as warehousing, fulfillment, and logistics. By fully integrating AI into commerce, Alibaba aims to reinvent itself as it fends off competitors such as Pinduoduo and Douyin. If done correctly, AI can help Alibaba enhance customer delight and increase operational efficiencies, laying the foundation for its next phase of expansion. What does this mean for investors? While the market remains fixated on China risk and e-commerce fatigue, Alibaba is quietly rebuilding its future around AI. From Qwen to cloud to commerce, it's laying the groundwork for a more intelligent, scalable, and global business. The movement toward AI is not a short-term catalyst -- it's a long-term transformation. But if Alibaba executes, investors may look back and see this as the moment it rewrote its growth story. It's a company worth watching. Should you buy stock in Alibaba Group right now? Before you buy stock in Alibaba Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Alibaba Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Lawrence Nga has positions in Alibaba Group and PDD Holdings. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Alibaba Group and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Alibaba's AI Ambitions: 3 Strategic Bets Investors Should Watch Closely was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Alibaba Cloud founder says early innovation doesn't need top-dollar hires: 'What happened in Silicon Valley is not the winning formula'
Paying top dollar for AI talent isn't necessary for true innovation, said Alibaba Cloud's founder. "The only thing you need to do is to get the right person," Wang Jian said in an interview with Bloomberg. "What happened in Silicon Valley is not the winning formula," he added. True innovation doesn't come from highly paid engineers, but from finding the right people to build the unknown, said the founder of Alibaba's cloud and AI unit. "The only thing you need to do is to get the right person," Wang Jian said in an interview with Bloomberg published Monday. "Not really the expensive person because if it's a new business, if it's true innovation, that basically means talent," he added. Wang, who built Alibaba Cloud in 2009, said American tech giants are "very much focused on the existing success of the business." "And existing — it's average of technology," the computer scientist said. "We have a tremendous opportunity to look at technology nobody knows today." "What happened in Silicon Valley is not the winning formula," Wang said. Wang's comments come after Big Tech companies are paying top dollar to recruit elite AI talent, a trend that's likened to sports franchises competing for superstar athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo. The competition reached another level when Meta recruited Scale's CEO, Alexandr Wang, last month as part of a $14.3 billion deal to take a 49% stake in his company. Then, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said Meta had tried to poach his best employees with $100 million signing bonuses. Just weeks ago, Google paid $2.4 billion to hire the CEO and top talent of AI startup Windsurf and license its intellectual property. OpenAI had planned to buy Windsurf for $3 billion, but the deal fell apart. "It's a typical way of doing things," Wang Jian said of Big Tech's hiring strategy. Chasing the same pool of in-demand talent isn't always a winning move, he added. "Whenever everybody knows that these are talents," Wang said, "it's better for you not to get it." "It's really about the vision, you know, where you want to go." Wang and Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. China's AI race is 'very healthy' competition Wang also said that the rivalry among Chinese AI firms is not cutthroat. No single person or company can sprint forever, he said. But collectively, the ecosystem can still move fast. He pointed to a pattern he's observed: One company surges ahead, then slows. Then another takes the lead. Over time, the first catches up again. "You can have the very fast iteration of the technology because of this competition," he said. "I don't think it's brutal, but I think it's very healthy," he added. China's biggest tech players have focused on open-source AI models, which have code and architecture that are publicly available for anyone to use, modify, or build on. One analyst told Business Insider previously that Chinese firms are prioritizing consolidation to stay competitive. For instance, Tencent has deployed its Hunyuan model and DeepSeek R1 across its massive ecosystem, including WeChat. Baidu has also integrated DeepSeek R1 into its search engine. The country is closing the gap with the US in the AI race. In a Stratechery interview earlier this year, Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, said that China is doing "fantastic" in the AI market, with homegrown models like DeepSeek and Manus emerging as credible challengers to US-built systems. He said China's AI researchers are some of the best in the world, and it's no surprise that US companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are hiring them. "Our competition in China is really intense," Huang said in May at the Computex Taipei tech conference in Taiwan. Huang has also said that the US and China are neck and neck in the AI chip race. "China is right behind us. We're very, very close." Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Alibaba Cloud Founder on Silicon Valley Talent Grab
Alibaba Cloud Founder and Zhejiang Lab Director, Wang Jian, has spoken exclusively to our Asia Tech Correspondent Annabelle Droulers about the huge pay packets being offered to hire or poach Artificial Intelligence talent from companies. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
