Alibaba Reports Growth in Revenues from AI-Powered Services

• Alibaba reported a 34% increase in revenues from its smart business.
• Qwen, the new AI chatbot, received 10 million downloads in its first week.
• The company plans to invest over 380 billion yuan in AI.

Hong Kong (AP) — Alibaba Group announced a 34% increase in revenues from its smart business in the last quarter, which became possible due to the boom of artificial intelligence. The total revenue of the Chinese technology group for the third quarter of 2025 is expected to grow by only 5% year-on-year to 247.8 billion yuan (35 billion dollars), while profit fell by 52% compared to the previous year due to fierce price competition in the e-commerce market in China.

Alibaba, which initially focused on e-commerce, has now shifted its attention to smart technology and artificial intelligence. This year, the company plans to invest a minimum of 380 billion yuan (53 billion dollars) over the next three years to develop its smart services and AI infrastructure.

General Director Eddie Wu stated that significant investments in AI help increase revenues. Revenue growth from smart services exceeded the 26% growth rate in the previous quarter. The company also noted that the demand for artificial intelligence "is accelerating" and intends to invest more than the planned 380 billion yuan to meet the growing demand.

At the beginning of the week, Alibaba announced that its updated AI chatbot Qwen, which aims to compete with ChatGPT from OpenAI, received 10 million downloads in its first week after launch. This makes Qwen the fastest-growing AI tool in history.

Qwen specializes in deep research and has the ability to search for information across multiple online resources and synthesize complex information. The company plans to expand the program's functionality, integrating services such as delivery, medical consultations, travel bookings, and e-commerce.

In addition, Alibaba's shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange rose by 2% in the afternoon, while before the opening of the New York stock exchange, they were up 2.4%. The company's shares have risen more than 90% since the beginning of the year amid optimism regarding its progress in AI.

Alongside Alibaba, other Chinese tech giants also reported mixed results. Tencent reported a 15% increase in revenues, while Baidu recorded a 7% decline in revenues in the same quarter. Investors and analysts indicate a potential overheating of the AI market, even as Nvidia's strong results last week have tempered these concerns.

Tags: China/Technology/AI