If Alibaba stock showing up in your feed more than your old college friend’s inspirational posts has you wondering what’s going on, yes their 63% gain in the first two months of the year probably has something to do with it… but it’s also because they’re making aggressive moves that should have U.S. tech companies watching their backs.

Alibaba has been on a heater, shooting up 48% in the past month alone, thanks to a mix of strong earnings and an aggressive AI push. The Chinese e-commerce (not turned everything) company just reported revenue of $38.4 billion for the December quarter, slightly beating estimates. But the real shocker was when their cloud division saw 13% growth, and their AI product revenue has been putting up triple-digit growth for six straight quarters.

CEO Eddie Wu, made it clear that Alibaba is going all in on artificial intelligence. “The AI era presents a clear and massive demand for infrastructure. We will aggressively invest in AI infrastructure,” he told analysts, promising to drop more cash on AI over the next three years than they did in the past decade.

(Source: Financial Times)

And even more importantly they’re forming key partnerships that could reshape the tech landscape.

One of the most significant deals is its partnership with Apple, which will bring AI-powered features to iPhones in China. With strict regulations preventing Western AI models from operating freely in the country, Apple needed a local AI provider to stay competitive. Alibaba is stepping in to fill that gap, giving them a crucial role in China’s AI ecosystem.

But it doesn’t stop there… Alibaba is also reportedly investing in DeepSeek, a Chinese AI firm that gives Nvidia shareholders the shivers. DeepSeek’s latest model has been praised as a potential challenger to OpenAI’s GPT, and Alibaba’s backing could supercharge its development. This move strengthens Alibaba’s position as China’s AI leader while also giving the country an alternative to U.S.-based AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic. On the other hand, Microsoft and Google (two dominant players in AI) are unable to access China’s growing AI market, leaving them at a disadvantage.

And just when you thought the Alibaba story couldn’t get anymore sinister, Jack Ma is back in the picture. After being largely MIA since Beijing cracked down on him in 2020, Alibaba’s co-founder was spotted attending a meeting with none other than Chinese President Xi Jinping.

What’s the big deal, you ask? Well this proves that China’s government is playing nice with Jack again, and Alibaba is back in Beijing’s good graces. That’s a big contrast to the U.S., where Big Tech faces antitrust lawsuits every other week. 

Anyways, long story short, don’t fall for the narrative that Alibaba’s stock is just ripping because of earnings… it’s ripping because they’re positioning themselves as the AI leaders in China.

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Stock.News has positions in Microsoft and Google.