{"id":66019,"date":"2026-05-13T10:51:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/alibabas-ai-and-cloud-division-sees-strong-growth-despite-overall-losses\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T10:51:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:51:38","slug":"alibabas-ai-and-cloud-division-sees-strong-growth-despite-overall-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/alibabas-ai-and-cloud-division-sees-strong-growth-despite-overall-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"Alibaba’s AI and Cloud Division Sees Strong Growth Despite Overall Losses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

Chinese technology giant Alibaba experienced significant expansion in its artificial intelligence and cloud computing sectors during the first quarter, though the company’s total revenue increased by only 3% to reach 243 billion yuan ($36 billion).<\/p>

The company’s Cloud Intelligence Group saw revenues surge 38% during the January through March period compared to the same timeframe last year. This represents an acceleration from the 36% and 34% increases recorded in the two preceding quarters.<\/p>

Despite these gains in AI and cloud services, Alibaba posted operational losses of 848 million yuan ($125 million) for the quarter, marking a dramatic shift from the 28.5 billion yuan profit recorded during the same period in 2023.<\/p>

The decline in profitability stems largely from increased spending on technology infrastructure, as companies worldwide pour resources into building capabilities to meet surging artificial intelligence demand.<\/p>

The Hangzhou-headquartered firm, which employs approximately 130,000 people, committed last year to investing a minimum of 380 billion yuan over three years to enhance its cloud computing and AI capabilities.<\/p>

Recently, Alibaba announced the complete integration of its Qwen AI application with its Taobao e-commerce platform, enabling customers to “browse, compare, place orders, and manage deliveries through natural conversation” to boost user engagement. The company also introduced its commercial AI tool called Wukong in March and increased pricing for certain AI services.<\/p>

“Alibaba’s AI has moved beyond the initial investment phase and progressed commercialization at scale,” CEO Eddie Wu stated during Wednesday’s earnings conference call.<\/p>

Technology firms across the industry now face the challenge of demonstrating that massive AI investments can generate profitable returns. According to Jacob Cooke, who leads Beijing-based consultancy WPIC Marketing + Technologies, “we should expect AI-related growth to accelerate further” for Alibaba.<\/p>

The company announced an ambitious target in March to exceed $100 billion in combined AI and cloud revenues within five years.<\/p>

Competitor Tencent also released disappointing first-quarter results on Wednesday, with revenue falling short of projections despite a 21% increase in net profit, though some analysts suggest its AI investments are beginning to show returns.<\/p>

According to Morningstar analyst Chelsey Tam, Chinese AI companies will likely maintain high spending levels as the “investment phase is far from over,” while these firms increasingly shift focus from gaining users to generating revenue.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chinese tech giant Alibaba reported a 38% surge in artificial intelligence and cloud computing revenue during the first quarter. Despite this growth, the company posted operational losses of $125 million as it continues heavy investments in AI infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":66018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[834],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1778683898281.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-haP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39531,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/chinese-tech-giant-alibaba-sets-100b-ai-revenue-goal-despite-profit-plunge\/","url_meta":{"origin":66019,"position":0},"title":"Chinese Tech Giant Alibaba Sets $100B AI Revenue Goal Despite Profit Plunge","author":"Admin","date":"March 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Alibaba Group announced Thursday it aims to generate over $100 billion in artificial intelligence and cloud computing revenue within five years. The ambitious target comes as the Chinese technology company reported a sharp 67% decline in quarterly profits despite strong cloud business growth.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1773934672362.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1773934672362.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1773934672362.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1773934672362.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38759,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/chinese-tech-giant-tencent-posts-strong-growth-driven-by-gaming-and-ai\/","url_meta":{"origin":66019,"position":1},"title":"Chinese Tech Giant Tencent Posts Strong Growth Driven by Gaming and AI","author":"Admin","date":"March 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Tencent Holdings, China's biggest social media and gaming company, reported a 13% increase in fourth-quarter revenue driven by strong gaming performance and artificial intelligence investments. The Shenzhen-based tech giant earned $28.3 billion in revenue for the final three months of 2024, slightly beating analyst expectations.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1773825763214.jpg?fit=450%2C302&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45089,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/chinese-tech-giant-huawei-reports-modest-2-2-revenue-growth-amid-us-sanctions\/","url_meta":{"origin":66019,"position":2},"title":"Chinese Tech Giant Huawei Reports Modest 2.2% Revenue Growth Amid US Sanctions","author":"Admin","date":"March 31, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Huawei Technologies announced slower revenue growth of 2.2% in 2025, reaching $127.5 billion in sales. The Chinese tech company continues investing heavily in research and development to counter ongoing US trade restrictions.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/news-1774963354457.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":69252,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/chinese-tech-giant-alibaba-launches-new-ai-processor-amid-u-s-trade-restrictions\/","url_meta":{"origin":66019,"position":3},"title":"Chinese Tech Giant Alibaba Launches New AI Processor Amid U.S. Trade Restrictions","author":"Admin","date":"May 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Alibaba has introduced its latest artificial intelligence chip, the Zhenwu M890, as part of China's push to develop homegrown alternatives to American processors. The new chip delivers three times better performance than its previous version and is designed specifically for advanced AI applications.","rel":"","context":"In "Science"","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779254552283.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":49925,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/chinese-ai-company-secures-293m-in-funding-to-develop-advanced-intelligence\/","url_meta":{"origin":66019,"position":4},"title":"Chinese AI Company Secures $293M in Funding to Develop Advanced Intelligence","author":"Admin","date":"April 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"ShengShu Technology, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, has secured nearly $300 million in new funding led by Alibaba Cloud. The company plans to use the investment to develop what it calls a 'general world model' that could simulate human perception and interaction.","rel":"","context":"In "Science"","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/science\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775787765696.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775787765696.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775787765696.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775787765696.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/news-1775787765696.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68068,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/chinese-memory-chip-giant-forecasts-massive-revenue-jump-amid-ai-boom\/","url_meta":{"origin":66019,"position":5},"title":"Chinese Memory Chip Giant Forecasts Massive Revenue Jump Amid AI Boom","author":"Admin","date":"May 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"China's leading memory chip manufacturer anticipates first-half revenue between $17.62 billion as artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for memory chips. The company's quarterly revenue skyrocketed more than 700% compared to the same period last year.","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779074577796.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}