What's Going On With Alibaba Stock Friday?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA stock is trading lower Friday in line with broader indexes IShares China Large-Cap ETF FXI KraneShares Trust KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF KWEB.

The declines ended three days of gains, as worries over worsening U.S.-China relations and profit-taking activities dampened investor enthusiasm.

This plunge came after a US lawmaker proposed legislation restricting Chinese biotech firms from doing business with the US government, citing military ties, SCMP reports.

This week, Alibaba and peer Chinese stocks got a shot in the arm from reports of China weighing a stimulus package to drive the stock market. It got an additional boost from reports claiming Alibaba co-founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai become Alibaba’s largest shareholders. 

On a separate note, Alibaba Group’s Quark platform has introduced an AI-powered application, AI PPT, for creating presentation slides, marking a step forward in the practical application of generative AI by Chinese tech giants. 

The AI PPT service allows users to select topics or create their own to generate slide decks using predefined templates. This tool, which can produce a set of slides in seconds, offers customization options for users to adjust the outline and design of the presentation SCMP reports.

Launched after Quark developed its large-language model (LLM) in November, AI PPT is part of Quark’s broader range of services. 

Quark is identified as one of the four strategic-level innovation businesses by Alibaba’s CEO, Eddie Wu Yongming. These units have the autonomy to develop their strategies and innovate, competing effectively in the market. AI PPT offers initial free trials, after which it becomes a subscription-based service, costing 19 yuan per month for up to 30 uses.

This development is part of a wider trend among Chinese tech companies to launch AI services for various industries, as seen with Baidu Inc’s BIDU introduction of the paid version of its Ernie Bot, a ChatGPT-like service.

Price Action: BABA shares are trading lower by 1.60% at $72.66 premarket on the last check Friday.

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

Alibaba Photo by zhu difeng on Shutterstock