EXCLUSIVE: AI To 'Turbocharge' Alibaba's Cloud In Bid To Rival Microsoft, Amazon, Says Strategist

Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd BABA BABAF isn't just aiming to dominate e-commerce—it's positioning itself as a major player in the AI revolution.

AI-Powered Sales Assistants, Marketing Tools

According to Derek Yan, Senior Investment Strategist at KraneShares, generative AI could transform Alibaba's customer service, sales, and marketing by enabling real-time, natural conversations with customers.

"The company is already experimenting with AI-powered sales assistants and marketing tools," Yan says, which could lead to significant operational savings. Imagine a world where AI instantly handles every customer query, streamlining interactions and boosting sales efficiency.

Turbocharged Ali Cloud To Challenge Microsoft Azure-OpenAI, AWS-Anthropic

But while improving customer interactions is a major focus, Alibaba's AI ambitions don't stop there. Yan highlights that generative AI could “turbocharge” the enormous potential of Alibaba’s cloud computing division, Ali Cloud.

This could lead to synergies similar to Microsoft Corp‘s MSFT Azure-OpenAI or Amazon.com Inc‘s AMZN AWS-Anthropic.

"Many internet companies in China already use Ali Cloud," Yan points out, including Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), a social platform with over 300 million users.

Read Also: Jack Ma Urges Alibaba to Embrace Competition, Highlights Growth Opportunities

Ali Cloud’s Integration With GenAI

By integrating generative AI into Ali Cloud, Alibaba is expanding its partnerships into new industries, particularly in China's booming automotive sector.

For example, FAW Group, one of China's auto giants, is using Ali Cloud's large language model, Qwen, to build AI-powered applications that generate reports and analyze data for business decisions. This is just one of the many applications where Ali Cloud is providing over 70% of China's domestic automobile enterprises with cloud computing services.

Yan believes that Alibaba's generative AI efforts will unlock new revenue streams and further solidify its position in China's tech ecosystem.

As AI continues to evolve, Alibaba's ability to integrate this technology into its business lines will determine whether it can outpace competitors and truly lead in the AI era.

For now, Alibaba's AI-powered future looks promising—but whether these innovations will match the growth of its U.S. counterparts remains to be seen.

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