CNBC·2025-11-25 10:44Core Insights - Alibaba showcased its AI technology applications at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, highlighting advancements in its cloud computing division which contributed to better-than-expected revenue in the fiscal second quarter [1] Financial Performance - Alibaba reported revenue of 247.8 billion Chinese yuan ($34.8 billion) for the fiscal second quarter, exceeding LSEG estimates of 242.65 billion yuan, marking a 5% year-on-year increase [1] - The cloud computing division saw a significant 34% year-on-year rise in revenue, reaching 39.8 billion yuan, surpassing expectations of 37.9 billion yuan and outpacing the 26% growth recorded in the previous quarter [2] Investment and Development - The company plans to increase spending on AI models and infrastructure development, building on a previously announced investment of 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) over three years [3] - Alibaba's Qwen app, a competitor to OpenAI's ChatGPT, achieved over 10 million downloads within its first week of launch, powered by Alibaba's AI models [3] Market Strategy - Alibaba is heavily investing in the instant commerce market, which focuses on super-fast delivery of certain items, although this investment has impacted the overall profitability of the business [4]