Latest AI News

Alibaba reported mixed Q1 2025 results with revenue up 2% to $34.57 billion, missing estimates, while net income rose 76%. The company is investing $53 billion in AI and cloud infrastructure over three years, driving strong growth in its Cloud Intelligence Group. AI-related products now form a significant portion of external revenue. Despite reaching new highs in active consumers and daily orders, operational income fell 3% due to increased investments in commerce innovation. CEO Eddie Wu emphasized the company's dual strategy of expanding consumption platforms while strengthening AI-driven cloud services to capitalize on "historic opportunities" in the evolving market.

Alibaba has developed a new AI chip designed to support a wide range of AI inference workloads, addressing the global chip shortage and reducing China's dependence on foreign suppliers like Nvidia. The chip aligns with Alibaba's strategy to serve diverse industries from cloud computing to IoT, enabling applications in image recognition, language processing, and automotive technology. This development comes amid US export restrictions on advanced GPUs to China, which has accelerated domestic innovation in semiconductor technology. Alibaba's initiative reflects China's broader push for technological self-sufficiency and positions the company to play a key role in the country's AI-driven innovation landscape.

Marvell Technology's stock dropped 12.48% following disappointing data center growth projections, raising concerns about AI chip demand sustainability. Despite record revenue with data center sales comprising 75% of total revenue, the outlook fell short of investor expectations. As a key supplier for AI and cloud infrastructure with partnerships with AWS and NVIDIA, Marvell's performance is viewed as indicative of sector health. The company continues strategic investments in AI research and custom silicon development, with analysts projecting potential to capture 20% of the $55 billion custom AI chip market by 2028. This market reaction highlights sensitivity to perceived shifts in AI hardware demand despite Marvell's strong long-term positioning.

South Korea plans a record 8.1% budget increase for 2026, reaching 728 trillion won ($525.42 billion), with $7.27 billion dedicated to artificial intelligence initiatives. This ambitious fiscal stimulus aims to position South Korea among the top three global AI leaders by 2028 and achieve 3% annual GDP growth. Key focus areas include AI semiconductors, robotics, data centers, tax incentives, and regulatory streamlining. President Lee Jae-myung has departed from prior fiscal restraint with over $20 billion in stimulus to address demographic challenges and economic pressures. The strategy supports major investments by companies like Samsung and Hyundai while strengthening South Korea's role in U.S.-led tech supply chains amid competition with China. The budget bill awaits legislative approval.