Heavier spending has wiped the tech giant’s profit and pushed cash flow negative, even as AI demand continues to outstrip supply.
Written by T. K. Lin
Published on
14 May 2026
5 mins read
Alibaba’s latest quarter presented investors with a tradeoff: accept a near-term earnings decline in exchange for clearer evidence that its artificial intelligence cloud business is gaining commercial traction.
The Chinese tech giant is spending tens of billions of dollars on AI despite concerns that companies are spending too much on the…
The tech giant is one of several Chinese AI firms that have been rushing to catch up to U.S. companies in the AI race.
Alibaba on Wednesday said its core profitability plunged in the March quarter amid heavy investments in tech and e-commerce.
Alibaba reported a 34% year-on-year rise in cloud computing revenue to 39.8 billion yuan.
Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped 19% on strong results at its cloud computing division driven by its AI investments.
Company’s shares jump 19 per cent as investors move on from interim results to focus on quick commerce numbers and AI development.
