{
  "id": 9265254,
  "title": "Alibaba to add data centers in Europe, Middle East amid AI push, US-China tech race",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/alibaba-to-add-data-centers-in-europe-middle-east-amid-ai-push-us",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-23T04:04:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/alibaba-add-data-centers-europe-middle-east-amid-ai-push-us-china-tech-race"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Alibaba Group is expanding its data center presence in Europe and the Middle East to compete with Western technology giants Amazon and Alphabet in the artificial intelligence sector. The Chinese e-commerce leader plans to set up its first cloud regions in Turkey, Finland, and the Netherlands within the next year. Additionally, Alibaba will expand its data centre footprint in Malaysia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, France, and Hong Kong, enhancing its capacity to provide localized cloud and AI services. This strategic move aligns with China's President Xi Jinping's vision of sharing the country's technological advancements globally, amid the US's push for its technology to be prioritized over Chinese alternatives. Alibaba's global cloud network already spans across Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The company aims to make AI more scalable, practical, and accessible for businesses through collaborations with its global ecosystem. Li Feifei, Alibaba's chief technology officer and president of international business for Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, emphasized the company's commitment to working closely with its global partners to advance AI technology. Alibaba recently launched its annual tech summit in Hangzhou, showcasing its full-stack AI capabilities just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the US for a state visit, where AI is a primary focus. Alibaba unveiled new AI chips it claims are the most powerful in China, designed for frontier-model training. The company is also training foundation models with parameters ranging from five trillion to 10 trillion, significantly larger than existing open-weight models. This hardware and software push is part of Alibaba's plan to build a 20 GW global data center network by 2032, which could generate over $160 billion in external cloud revenue, as estimated by Citigroup. Alibaba is among China's leading spenders on digital infrastructure, viewing it as crucial for achieving artificial general intelligence. The company announced a $53 billion, three-year AI investment plan in 2025, with capital spending expected to rise further.",
  "summary": "It is increasingly going head-to-head with Western rivals Amazon and Alphabet in regions beyond Asia",
  "key_points": [
    "Alibaba expanding data centers in Europe, Middle East, and Asia for AI competition.",
    "First cloud regions planned in Turkey, Finland, Netherlands within a year.",
    "Li Feifei emphasizes collaboration to advance AI technology globally."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Alibaba's expanded data center presence in Europe and the Middle East strengthens its global cloud network, enabling the company to provide localized AI services and compete with Western tech giants.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
        "title": "Alibaba to add data centres in Europe, Middle East amid AI push, US-China tech race",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/alibaba-to-add-data-centres-in-europe-middle-east-amid-ai-push-us",
        "published": "2026-09-23T04:04:02.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "NDTV",
        "title": "Alibaba To Add Data Centers In Europe, Middle East In AI Push",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/alibaba-to-add-data-centers-in-europe-middle-east-in-ai-push",
        "published": "2026-09-23T05:40:52.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Seeking Alpha News",
        "title": "Alibaba accelerates global AI push with new data centers in Europe and Middle East",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/alibaba-accelerates-global-ai-push-with-new-data-centers-in-europe",
        "published": "2026-09-23T05:43:42.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Investing.com",
        "title": "OECD expects AI boom to help offset Middle East energy shock for now",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/oecd-expects-ai-boom-to-help-offset-middle-east-energy-shock-for-now",
        "published": "2026-09-23T08:06:57.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}