Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. saw its shares rise around 3% in Hong Kong following major announcements regarding its artificial intelligence strategy. At its annual Apsara Conference, the Chinese technology giant introduced the Zhenwu V900, its next-generation AI chip. This new chip is reported to deliver three times the performance of its predecessor, the Zhenwu M890, which was released in May.
In addition to the new chip, Alibaba outlined ambitious plans to significantly expand its global data center footprint. The company aims to achieve more than 20 gigawatts of data center capacity for Alibaba Cloud by 2032. This move is part of a broader strategy that integrates chip development, cloud infrastructure, and AI models, signaling Alibaba's intensified focus on the underlying technology driving the AI boom. The Zhenwu V900 chip is slated for mass production and commercial release in the first quarter of 2027, with existing Zhenwu chips already serving over 650 customers across various industries.
The company also disclosed its intentions to train a new artificial intelligence model with a massive 5 trillion to 10 trillion parameters, building on its Qwen series models. This push comes as competitors like Nvidia and Meta are also making significant investments in AI infrastructure, with Nvidia planning 2 gigawatts of AI infrastructure in Australia by 2027 and Meta investing an estimated $9 billion in a 1-gigawatt data center in Canada. Alibaba's CEO, Eddie Wu, compared current AI development to the early stages of electrification, emphasizing the "enormous growth runway" for machine thinking.
