Latest news with #EddieWu
Arabian Post
04-07-2025
- Business
- Arabian Post
Southeast Asia Surge: Alibaba Cloud Accelerates AI‑Driven Expansion
Alibaba Cloud has unveiled its third data centre in Malaysia and confirmed plans for a second facility in the Philippines, deepening its infrastructure presence in Southeast Asia. The Malaysian centre became operational on 1 July 2025, while the Philippine hub is scheduled to launch by October 2025. These moves are part of Alibaba's broader efforts to bolster cloud and AI services across the region. Growth in cloud demand and the strategic importance of Southeast Asia underpin this expansion. Alibaba Group's cloud division has embarked on a $52 billion investment over the next three years to build a unified global cloud network, spanning Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Southeast Asia has emerged as a pivotal battleground as enterprises accelerate AI adoption and seek resilient digital infrastructure. At a summit in Singapore marking Alibaba Cloud's tenth anniversary in the city-state, Eddie Wu, CEO of Alibaba Cloud, highlighted the company's strategy: 'Globalisation is Alibaba Cloud's long‑term strategy,' he said, adding that the company would 'accelerate the development of its global cloud computing network'. These statements reinforce Alibaba's ambition to deliver end‑to‑end cloud services, spanning compute, storage, networking and AI capabilities. ADVERTISEMENT This announcement follows earlier infrastructure roll‑outs across Asia. The company deployed a second data centre in South Korea in June 2025 and launched new regions in Thailand and Mexico in the first half of the year. Strategic market withdrawals from Australia and India in 2024 appear to be counterbalanced by intensified investment in high‑potential markets. Southeast Asia's accelerating digital transformation is creating rising demand for secure, scalable cloud services. Malaysia, with its growing ecosystem of startups and tech‑savvy enterprises, will now benefit from three Alibaba Cloud zones, an improvement in redundancy and local connectivity. The Philippine expansion addresses growing demand in Manila and surrounding urban centres, where cloud adoption is being propelled by fintech, e‑commerce, and the BPO sector. At the Singapore summit, Alibaba also launched its AI Global Competency Centre, designed to support over 5,000 businesses and 100,000 developers. The centre offers access to advanced AI models, labs and infrastructure support. These investments aim to accelerate enterprise AI adoption by providing both tools and training through partnerships with more than 120 universities, aiming to train 100,000 AI professionals annually. In addition to infrastructure, Alibaba Cloud is upgrading its cloud offerings. The ninth‑generation intel‑based Enterprise Elastic Compute Service will roll out across Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, UAE, Germany and the UK from July. Enhancements to its Data Transmission Service and Platform for AI demonstrate a push to simplify deployment of large language models and accelerate inference capabilities. Competitive pressure in Southeast Asia is intensifying, with other hyperscalers—AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud—announcing new regions and services. Alibaba's bets on localised data centres, AI‑centric products and talent development programmes are its response to positioning itself as a regionally integrated cloud‑AI partner. ADVERTISEMENT Regulatory headwinds and trade tensions, particularly restrictions on Chinese cloud firms, lend further urgency to Alibaba's diversification strategy. By embedding infrastructure in Southeast Asia, the company aims to mitigate geopolitical risk, offer compliant local services and deliver low‑latency performance. Corporate results reflect this momentum: Alibaba Cloud has reported double‑digit year‑on‑year growth in AI‑related product revenues for six consecutive quarters, with Q4 cloud revenue hitting CNY 31.7 billion and quarterly growth of 13%. These figures position the unit as the fastest‑growing segment within the broader Alibaba Group. Tech analysts and regional partners have praised the expansion as timely. 'These deployments will significantly improve resilience, latency and service coverage across key markets,' remarked a Southeast Asia‑based CIO. A telco executive added that local data centres are crucial to scaling AI‑powered services like real‑time analytics, IoT and smart city infrastructure. Channel partners in Malaysia and the Philippines, including telcos and systems integrators, anticipate accelerated digital transformations. Industry groups reported a surge in enquiries following the Malaysian centre's opening, particularly from manufacturing and education sectors. Cloud‑native startups welcomed the news, viewing the increased compute availability as essential to scaling AI‑driven products. Optimising energy use and sustainability is also part of the plan. Alibaba's 'Energy Expert' ESG‑focused reporting tool integrates AI into energy management. This aligns with industry benchmarks that 84% of leaders see green AI as important, although 69% are still at early adoption stages. Emerging green data centre practices—including renewable power sourcing and efficient cooling—are expected to feature prominently in the Southeast Asian roll‑outs. The Malaysian data centre opens amid strong macro trends: Malaysia's digital economy was projected to grow at over 10% annually through the next five years, while Philippine cloud adoption is forecast to grow at a similar rate, driven by government digitalisation policies and enterprise cloudisation. As Alibaba deploys this enhanced infrastructure, both nations are expected to see AI‑centred cloud services gain momentum in verticals ranging from finance to manufacturing.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alibaba's $7 Billion Power Play: Can Coupons and Cloud Save Its Future?
Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) is pulling a bold move to reignite growth in its core markets. The company just announced it will hand out 50 billion yuanroughly $6.98 billionin coupons and vouchers over the next 12 months to boost traffic and spending across its delivery and shopping platforms. It's a high-stakes play aimed at defending its position in China's fiercely competitive e-commerce and food delivery sectors, where rivals like have recently stepped in. The subsidy push signals that Alibaba is not backing down, even as it juggles rising pressure at home. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Signs with BABA. At the same time, Alibaba is turning its gaze outward. The company is doubling down on global cloud expansion, rolling out new data centers in Malaysia and the Philippines, and opening an AI hub in Singapore designed to support more than 5,000 businesses and 100,000 developers. CEO Eddie Wu called globalization a core pillar of Alibaba Cloud's long-term strategy and said the firm will continue building its cloud network across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. These moves come as the company looks to tap surging demand for AI and cloud services in Southeast Asiawhile reinforcing its position in an increasingly crowded tech race. Investors are paying close attention to whether this two-front strategy can move the needle. Alibaba Cloud is widely seen as a future growth engine, with the group previously committing $52 billion toward AI and cloud infrastructure over the next three years. But with price wars heating up in domestic commerce and aggressive bets abroad, execution will be key. Whether this $7 billion stimulus can defend Alibaba's turfand whether its cloud ambitions can delivercould define the company's next chapter. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alibaba Offers $7 Billion of Subsidies to Defend Turf in China
(Bloomberg) -- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is offering 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) of subsidies for food deliveries and online retail to boost its instant commerce business in China as competition heats up. Struggling Downtowns Are Looking to Lure New Crowds Sprawl Is Still Not the Answer California Exempts Building Projects From Environmental Law What Gothenburg Got Out of Congestion Pricing The massive subsidy will benefit both consumers and merchants over the next 12 months, Alibaba's e-commerce arm Taobao said Wednesday in a statement on its official WeChat account. China's e-commerce leader is facing growing challenges from up-and-comers like PDD Holdings Inc. It also is trying to catch up with Meituan in the domestic food delivery market, which is becoming even more cutthroat with Inc. joining the fray. Read: Billionaire's Stunt Reignites China's Food-Delivery Feud But in the wake of DeepSeek's meteoric rise on the global stage at the beginning of this year, Alibaba's Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu has pledged to pivot the company to focus on AI to drive future growth. SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too How to Steal a House America's Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried China's Homegrown Jewelry Superstar Pistachios Are Everywhere Right Now, Not Just in Dubai Chocolate ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bangkok Post
02-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Alibaba expands AI cloud services in Malaysia, Philippines
TAIPEI — Alibaba Group Holding Limited is adding new data centres in Malaysia and the Philippines in pursuit of growth driven by artificial intelligence (AI). The Hangzhou-based company's cloud unit launched its third data centre in Malaysia this week and it also plans to open its second data centre in the Philippines in October, it said in a statement released Wednesday. Alibaba Cloud also said it is launching a global competency centre in Singapore to help accelerate AI adoption across industries. It said the centre would help more than 5,000 businesses and 100,000 developers access advanced AI models. Best known for its e-commerce operations in China, Alibaba has been charging into AI, building standalone offerings around its Qwen AI models and growing its cloud services. It has also announced infrastructure investments in Thailand, Mexico and South Korea. In the wake of DeepSeek's emergence on the global stage, Alibaba Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu declared in February the company's "primary objective" is now artificial general intelligence, a goal in the industry to build AI systems with human-level intellectual capabilities.
Business Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Alibaba expands AI cloud services in Malaysia, Philippines
[TAIPEI] Alibaba Group Holding is adding new data centres in Malaysia and the Philippines in pursuit of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven growth. The Hangzhou-based company's cloud unit launched its third data centre in Malaysia this week and it also plans to open its second data centre in the Philippines in October, it said in a statement released on Wednesday (Jul 2). Alibaba Cloud also said it's launching a global competency centre in Singapore to help accelerate AI adoption across industries. It said the centre would help more than 5,000 businesses and 100,000 developers access advanced AI models. 'Globalisation is Alibaba Cloud's long-term strategy,' Alibaba chief executive officer Eddie Wu said in a recorded video message at a company event in Singapore on Wednesday. Alibaba will accelerate the buildout of its global cloud network in China, Japan, South Korea, South-east Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Americas over the next three years, he added, reiterating its commitment to spend more than US$53 billion on AI infrastructure during the period. Best known for its e-commerce operations in China, Alibaba has been charging into AI, building standalone offerings around its Qwen AI models and growing its cloud services. It has also announced infrastructure investments in Thailand, Mexico and South Korea. In the wake of DeepSeek's emergence on the global stage, Alibaba chief executive officer Eddie Wu declared in February the company's 'primary objective' is now artificial general intelligence, a goal in the industry to build AI systems with human-level intellectual capabilities. BLOOMBERG
