Alibaba to sell gaming arm for $1.5 bln as AI focus intensifies - Bloomberg

Alibaba Group is set to sell its gaming division, Lingxi Games, for more than $1.5 billion, according to Bloomberg News. The decision comes as the Chinese e-commerce giant intensifies its focus on artificial intelligence and cloud computing, reports stated. Trustar Capital, an Asian private equity firm, has agreed to acquire Lingxi Games, as revealed in an internal memo accessed by Bloomberg.

Lingxi CEO Zhou Bingshu explained that the business is being transferred to the new owners to enable the company to concentrate on its strategic priorities, as quoted in the report. This move is part of Alibaba's broader restructuring under CEO Eddie Wu, who is divesting non-core assets while aiming to generate $100 billion in AI revenue over a five-year period.

Alibaba recently launched its largest AI model, claiming that its performance is comparable to that of Anthropic’s technology. Lingxi's most significant game, Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition, is a multiplayer strategy title developed in collaboration with Japan's Koei Tecmo.