China Alibaba CEO Eddie Yongming WU At APSARA Tech Forum, Hangzhou

Eddie Wu, CEO of Alibaba Group (Xu Kangping/Getty Images)

Alibaba misses on overall revenue and earnings, but AI sales were higher than expected

The e-commerce giant plans to spend $53 billion on AI infrastructure over the next three years.

8/29/25 6:13AM

Alibaba is up 4% in premarket trading today on results for the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year, where the company missed on earnings and revenue expectations, but beat estimates for its all-important cloud and AI segment.

💵 Overall revenue came in at $34.6 billion, less than the Bloomberg consensus estimate of $35.4 billion.
🏦 Adjusted earnings per share were $2.06, lower than the $2.23 expected by analysts.
🏪 E-commerce (Taobao/Tmall) brought in $16.55 billion, below the analysts’ $16.94 billion forecast.
☁️ The company’s cloud segment, which includes AI-related sales, had revenue of $4.66 billion, up 26% from the year before and more than the expected $4.44 billion.

“Driven by robust AI demand, Cloud Intelligence Group experienced accelerated revenue growth, and AI-related product revenue is now a significant portion of revenue from external customers,” CEO Eddie Wu said in a statement.

Like its American tech counterparts, Alibaba has gone all in on AI, planning to spend $53 billion on AI infrastructure over the next three years. And, just like with companies in the US, investors are keen to see how its cloud business is paying off.

Jon Keegan

Amazon rolls out updated Trainium chip, new AI models at re:Invent conference

A flurry of product announcements from the developer conference in Las Vegas present a roadmap for its AI computing dominance.

Jon Keegan6h

Amazon AWS and Google set up rare partnership as rivals try to prevent massive network outages

In October, Amazon AWS suffered a major outage, disrupting services for Snapchat, Reddit, Roblox, Venmo, and United Airlines, among others.

As more and more businesses move their cloud computing to AWS or Google Cloud, the risks of such large outages increase.

To address this, an unusual partnership between rivals AWS and Google seeks to let customers quickly and easily move their data and services between the platforms.

In a press release, Robert Kennedy, VP of network services at AWS, said:

“This collaboration between AWS and Google Cloud represents a fundamental shift in multicloud connectivity. By defining and publishing a standard that removes the complexity of any physical components for customers, with high availability and security fused into that standard, customers no longer need to worry about any heavy lifting to create their desired connectivity. When they need multicloud connectivity, it’s ready to activate in minutes with a simple point and click.”

AWS and Google Cloud collaborate on multicloud networking | Google Cloud Blog

To address this, an unusual partnership between rivals AWS and Google seeks to let customers quickly and easily move their data and services between the platforms.

In a press release, Robert Kennedy, VP of network services at AWS, said:

“This collaboration between AWS and Google Cloud represents a fundamental shift in multicloud connectivity. By defining and publishing a standard that removes the complexity of any physical components for customers, with high availability and security fused into that standard, customers no longer need to worry about any heavy lifting to create their desired connectivity. When they need multicloud connectivity, it’s ready to activate in minutes with a simple point and click.”

Rani Molla9h

Tesla’s Chinese-made EV sales jumped 10% in November

Tesla sales from its Shanghai plant jumped 10% in November, only the third time those sales have risen in a month this year, Bloomberg reports. These figures don’t break down what share of sales are within China — Tesla’s second-biggest market — or exported, but typically most made there are sold locally.

The news is a rare bright spot these days for the company’s car sales, which are continuing to decline in much of the world amid fierce competition, especially from Chinese automakers, against Tesla’s aging lineup. The FactSet analyst consensus expects Tesla’s global sales to drop 7% in 2025, the second annual decline in a row.

Rani Molla9h

Apple retires AI head to show it’s serious about AI

Yesterday, Apple announced that its AI head, John Giannandrea, who presided over the company’s largely subpar endeavors into generative AI, would retire at the relatively young age of 60.

Giannandrea is set to leave the company this spring — right around the time Apple’s long-delayed, AI-powered Siri is expected to debut, with Microsoft’s corporate VP for AI, Amar Subramanya, taking the reins.

The move signals that Apple, which has invested far less in AI than its Big Tech peers — and has comparatively little to show for it — is finally getting serious about the technology.

“We believe that Subramanya represents the right hire at the right time with the clock ticking on Apple’s AI strategy heading into next year with outside hires a necessary move to improve the AI strategy,” writes Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. “We believe that this was a major reset while expecting more outside hires from Cook & Co. to get Apple on the right track when it comes to AI while further preparing the company for its AI Siri launch by mid 2026 which has been delayed due to development challenges and now represents a major turning point in the company’s history.”

The company put it this way: “This moment marks an exciting new chapter as Apple strengthens its commitment to shaping the future of AI for users everywhere.”

John Giannandrea to retire from Apple

The move signals that Apple, which has invested far less in AI than its Big Tech peers — and has comparatively little to show for it — is finally getting serious about the technology.

The company put it this way: “This moment marks an exciting new chapter as Apple strengthens its commitment to shaping the future of AI for users everywhere.”

Rani Molla10h

OpenAI declares “code red” on Google three years after Google declared “code red” on OpenAI

Google’s recent AI hot streak, which includes the much-lauded release of Gemini 3 last month, has OpenAI worried — so much so that CEO Sam Altman has declared a “code red” to improve its flagship product, ChatGPT, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Scholars of chatbot history might remember that after OpenAI’s ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, Google declared a “code red” to fight the existential threat the new AI technology posed to Google’s search dominance.

And here we are today!