AI boosts Alibaba’s cloud business

BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters): China's Alibaba said on Friday artificial intelligence was key to expanding its cloud computing business, as it reported strong quarterly growth in the sector.

Revenue in Alibaba's cloud segment surged 26 per cent to 33.40 billion yuan ($4.67 billion), easily beating an expected 18.4 per cent rise. However, that was eclipsed by weaker than expected growth in its e-commerce business.

Over the past four quarters, the firm has cumulatively invested over 100 billion yuan in AI infrastructure and AI product research and development, Group CEO Eddie Wu told analysts on a post earnings call.