Jack Ma buys Alibaba stock in show of support for AI buildout

ALIBABA Group co-founder Jack Ma has joined senior executives in picking up company stock to show support for its AI ambitions, a person familiar with the matter said.

Ma bought more than HK$600 million (US$76.5 million) worth of shares in recent days, the person said, asking not to be identified because the purchase isn’t public.

He joins senior executives Joe Tsai and Eddie Wu, who together acquired at least US$20 million worth of stock, according to exchange filings.

The South China Morning Post reported on Ma’s share purchase earlier.

Ma, who helped turn a tiny e-commerce outfit run out of his apartment into one of China’s most powerful tech conglomerates, has in recent years played a more active role at supporting the company.

Alibaba this week raised HK$80 billion in Hong Kong’s biggest follow-on share offering, underscoring its willingness to amass and spend vast sums to take the lead in global artificial intelligence.

The fundraising reflects Alibaba’s eagerness to outspend and outrun Chinese rivals in the chase to define the frontier of AI development.

The company has sold off assets and pledged to spend more than 380 billion yuan (US$56.5 billion) over three years on AI, from chips and data centres to large-language model development.

But that concentrated effort to challenge Anthropic PBC and OpenAI is already eroding margins, while anemic domestic consumption dogs its mainstay online retail business.

The company amped up its capital spending in the June quarter to nearly US$10 billion and said it’s putting the focus on long-term competitiveness. BLOOMBERG