China’s Alibaba launches international data centre push

On September 23, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba revealed its plans to significantly expand its international data center presence, focusing on markets in Europe and the Middle East. The Hangzhou-based tech behemoth, a leader in China's artificial intelligence (AI) sector, intends to establish its first cloud regions in Turkey, Finland, and the Netherlands. Over the next year, Alibaba will also broaden its data center footprint in Malaysia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, France, and Hong Kong.

This announcement came just before a crucial meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in Washington. The discussion would likely revolve around trade tensions, among other subjects. The ongoing tech rivalry between Beijing and Washington is increasingly centered around frontier industries such as semiconductors, AI, and robotics.

Alibaba's chief executive, Eddie Wu, announced on September 22 that the company plans to train an AI model with five to 10 trillion parameters. Such a model would be significantly larger than the current largest Chinese model. Alibaba aims to secure over 20GW of global data center capacity by 2032, Wu revealed during the firm's annual flagship conference in Hangzhou, China.

The company also unveiled a new AI chip, the Zhenwu V900, at the conference. Alibaba claims the chip delivers three times the performance of its predecessor, Zhenwu M890, which is believed to be twice as powerful as the chip specifically designed for the Chinese market by US leader Nvidia. The H20.

China has been striving for technological self-reliance, with the tech company turning to domestic chips as alternatives to foreign products. Washington has long attempted to slow China's progress by imposing export controls on advanced chips required for cutting-edge AI, restricting access to top-end US semiconductors like Nvidia's. Beijing's push for self-sufficiency has encouraged Chinese technology firms to adopt domestic chips as substitutes for foreign products.