Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence arm of Alibaba Group, has unveiled an international expansion plan to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence ( AI ) and cloud services. It will launch its first data centres in Brazil, France, and the Netherlands, and build additional data centres in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Dubai in the coming year. 

Revealed at the company's Apsara Conference 2025 in Hangzhou, China, the strategic expansion will also involve the establishment of new regional service centres in Indonesia and Germany to provide round-the-clock, multi-language customer support. Alibaba Cloud currently operates 91 availability zones in 29 regions globally.

Meanwhile, the company will also integrate Nvidia’s physical AI software stack into its own AI platform to accelerate advancements in humanoid robotics. It has also launched its latest open-source large language model: Qwen3-max.

After the announcements, Alibaba’s stock price on the Hong Kong Exchange surged by over 9% while its American depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange rose by over 8% to reach their highest since August 2021.

As the company steps up efforts to enhance its AI and cloud computing services, its stock price has more than doubled since the start of the year.

Massive investments

Earlier in February, Alibaba pledged a minimum investment of 380 billion yuan ( US$53 billion ) over the next three years to bolster its AI capability and cloud infrastructure. On Wednesday, Alibaba chief executive officer Eddie Wu confirmed that the plan is progressing well, with further capital expenditures in the pipeline.

“AI will be the most penetrated technology ever in the human’s history,” Wu says at the Hangzhou event. “We expect AI-related investments to reach US$400 billion in 2025, and the cumulative figure is likely to surpass US$4 trillion over the next five years.”

Cloud computing has become Alibaba’s second largest revenue source after its e-commerce business, generating US$4.6 billion in the second quarter of 2025. That’s up 26% compared to the same period last year.  

Amid the lavish investments, Alibaba’s free cash flow has turned negative, according to its latest quarterly earnings report. Nonetheless, investors appear satisfied with how the company is using its funds as they look forward to the long-term returns.

Earlier this month, the company completed the issuance of zero-coupon convertible bonds worth US$3.2 billion due in 2032 to finance the expansion of its cloud infrastructure and international business.

Alibaba holds an exceptionally optimistic view on the future of AI. “We believe that the pursuit of artificial general intelligence ( AGI ) is just the starting point, and the ultimate goal is to build artificial super intelligence ( ASI ), which goes fully beyond our own intelligence,” says Wu.