What's Going On With Alibaba Stock Thursday?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA stock is trading higher Thursday in line with the broader indexes IShares China Large-Cap ETF FXI and KraneShares Trust KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF KWEB as the U.S. extended its one-year exemption on semiconductor tech embargo for China.

The U.S. has extended its one-year exemption, permitting South Korean and Taiwanese chipmakers to continue bringing advanced semiconductor technology and related equipment into China, Nikkei Asia reports.

Last October, the U.S. introduced stringent limitations on exporting advanced chips and related equipment to China. 

Leading chip producers like Samsung Electronics Co SSNLF, SK Hynix, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSM, all having significant operations in China, expressed concerns, suggesting these limitations would harm their businesses. 

In response, the U.S. granted these firms a one-year leeway to maintain operations.

The U.S. intends to prolong this grace period, due to end this October, under the same terms. 

In 2022, semiconductor sales worldwide amounted to approximately $570 billion. 

Given its role as a major manufacturing center for Apple Inc AAPL iPhones and various tech gadgets, China contributed almost one-third of this figure. 

South Korean chip companies have deep connections with China; for instance, about 40% of SK Hynix's DRAM production capability is in China. 

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will visit China from Sunday to Wednesday to meet with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, to foster dialogue and mitigate the growing U.S.-China tensions surrounding the semiconductor industry.

Meanwhile, Alibaba's corporate communication tool, DingTalk, revealed its plan to embed a large language model into its software across 17 products and 55 use cases. 

The enhanced version of DingTalk, set to release by September's end, will feature digital assistants to help craft job posts, filter potential hires and organize interviews, among other tasks. 

It will also incorporate an AI-driven teaching assistant to support educators in assessing students and generating PowerPoint slides. 

For the professional version of DingTalk, which costs RMB 9,800 ($1,344), users wishing to avail of the LLM features will pay an extra RMB 10,000 ($1,372) annually for up to 200,000 uses. 

The exclusive version, priced around RMB 100,000, will charge an added RMB 20,000 per year for 450,000 uses. 

Additionally, DingTalk will offer a supplementary package for RMB 3,000, allowing 50,000 uses.

Price Action: BABA shares traded higher by 1.17% at $90.89 premarket on the last check Thursday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.