Alibaba’s finance chief voices confidence in China’s AI boom and consumer market
Toby Xu Hong says Alibaba’s substantial investments in AI and delivery services are are an endorsement of China’s progress
Xu said Alibaba had earmarked 380 billion yuan (US$52 billion) for AI infrastructure, and 50 billion yuan for subsidies to merchants and consumers to support the country’s tech and internet services development, according to the report on Wednesday.
“Such large investments are based on in-depth analyses, with our continual confidence in the outlook of the Chinese market and the role of private enterprises in the nation’s development being the most important factors,” said Xu, who was appointed Alibaba’s finance chief in 2022 after joining the company in 2018.
Alibaba owns the Post.
That same month, Alibaba announced plans to invest at least 380 billion yuan over the next three years in AI, cloud computing and related infrastructure – an amount exceeding its total spending in those areas over the past decade.