Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s CEO has declared that the pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is now the company’s “primary objective.” During a call with investors following the release of results that exceeded analyst expectations, Eddie Wu stated, “Our foremost goal is to pursue AGI. We aim to continue developing models that push the boundaries of intelligence.” While Alibaba has built its empire on e-commerce, with services like AliExpress and Taobao at its core, Wu’s comments highlight the growing significance of AI in the industry, particularly in light of the recent excitement surrounding DeepSeek’s cost-effective model. His mention of AGI—hypothetical AI systems capable of emulating human cognitive abilities—underscores a notable shift for Alibaba, which is now positioning itself as an AI company. “We want to keep pushing those boundaries to create more opportunities,” Wu added. Following the earnings report, Alibaba’s US shares rose by as much as 11% in premarket trading. The company’s cloud business saw a 13% revenue increase last quarter compared to the same period last year, marking the fastest growth in two years, driven by a surge in AI-related products. Executives indicated that more advancements are on the horizon. “The AI era presents a clear and massive demand for infrastructure,” Wu noted, revealing that Alibaba’s planned investment in cloud and AI infrastructure over the next three years is expected to surpass its total expenditure over the past decade.
According to Alibaba’s CEO Wu, the company’s main goal has shifted to focusing on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
