Alibaba’s AI Arm Surges 34% Though Big Spending Hits Profit (1)

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. posted better-than-projected 34% revenue growth in its cloud business, offsetting a plunge in profit after the company unleashed spending on consumer subsidies and data centers to ride an AI boom.

The cloud division, which houses the flagship Qwen platform, propelled overall revenue 5% higher to 247.8 billion yuan ($35 billion) in the September quarter, just outstripping expectations. It posted a 16% rise in Chinese e-commerce revenue, suggesting it was holding its own in a three-way battle with JD.com Inc. and Meituan — one that compressed margins and halved its net income. The company’s US shares ...