Ask investors to name the biggest artificial intelligence (AI) companies in the world, and you’ll probably hear the same names: Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, or OpenAI.
Few would mention Alibaba (NYSE: BABA)
That may be a mistake. While the market continues to view Alibaba as a Chinese e-commerce company battling slowing consumer spending and fierce competition, the company is quietly building one of the world’s largest AI ecosystems. It has developed frontier AI models, operates China’s largest cloud platform, and plans to invest massively in AI and cloud infrastructure over the next three years.
Yet most investors still treat it as an e-commerce company. That disconnect could create an opportunity for long-term investors. The market is still looking at yesterday’s Alibaba For most of its history, Alibaba’s story was simple.