What's Going On With Alibaba Stock Thursday?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA shares are trading higher Thursday, buoyed by its artificial intelligence collaboration with Meta Platforms Inc META.

Alibaba Cloud added Meta's Llama 2 LLM to ModelScope, its open-source "model-as-a-service" platform offers over 700 AI models – covering various fields from computer vision to natural language processing and audio – to local developers, SCMP reports.

Alibaba Cloud had tailored services via ModelScope that would enable Chinese developers that use Llama 2 to design and build their AI applications faster.

With Llama 2 available free for research and commercial use, Meta provides developers with an alternative to costly LLMs, such as ChatGPT creator OpenAI's GPT-4 and GPT-3.5.

Alibaba proposed to provide funding and other forms of support to these businesses.

Also, China's central bank called on the financial sector to help fund technology research and M&A deals, which could significantly boost the industry.

It comes especially at a time when firms are heavily investing in AI.

China will explore the creation of a platform through which smaller tech firms can borrow via high-yield bonds, Bloomberg reports.

On Wednesday, Meta Platforms reported second-quarter revenue of $32 billion, up 11% year-over-year, ahead of a Street consensus estimate of $31.12 billion.

Earnings per share totaled $2.98 in the second quarter, beating a Street consensus estimate of $2.91. The company said it continues to invest in AI, with Llama 2 getting a special mention.

In Q4, Alibaba Cloud revenue decreased by 2% Y/Y to $2.71, reflecting delays in the delivery of hybrid cloud projects given the COVID-19 resurgence in January, the normalization of CDN demand, and the impact from a top customer phasing out using its overseas cloud services for its international business. Cloud formed 9% of the company's total revenue.

Price Action: BABA shares traded higher by 0.37% at $97.56 on the last check Thursday.