Alibaba’s AI Arm Surges 34% Though Big Spending Slashes Profit

Core Insights - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. reported a 34% growth in its cloud business, which helped offset a decline in profit due to increased spending on consumer subsidies and data centers to capitalize on the AI boom [1][4] Financial Performance - The cloud division, which includes the Qwen platform, contributed to a 5% increase in overall revenue, reaching 247.8 billion yuan ($35 billion) in the September quarter, slightly exceeding expectations [2][6] - Chinese e-commerce revenue rose by 16%, indicating strong performance amid competition with JD.com Inc. and Meituan [2] - Net income fell to 20.99 billion yuan during the period, impacted by discounting and rising AI development costs, with sales and marketing expenses more than doubling [7] Market Position and Strategy - The strong results are expected to bolster investor confidence in Alibaba as a leader in AI development, with the company accelerating the release of AI models and relaunching its Qwen mobile app [3][4] - CEO Eddie Wu dismissed concerns about an AI investment bubble, asserting that the company plans to pursue aggressive investments to meet growing market demand and competition [4][5] Industry Context - Alibaba's performance comes amid skepticism regarding the sustainability of AI infrastructure investments, with concerns about whether data center construction is outpacing demand [4][6] - The company joins JD.com and PDD Holdings Inc. in reporting better-than-expected results, benefiting from Beijing's stimulus measures and substantial subsidies [7]