Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) shares climbed Friday as investors got more excited about China's artificial intelligence story. The rally comes as Chinese tech companies double down on homegrown AI innovation and Beijing throws its weight behind domestic semiconductor development.
The stock caught a lift partly thanks to Baidu, Inc (BIDU), which announced plans to spin off and separately list Kunlunxin, its AI chip unit, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The move would turn Kunlunxin, currently a non-wholly owned subsidiary, into a standalone public company, giving AI chip-focused investors a clearer way to bet on the technology.
The Geopolitics of Silicon
Timing matters here. Baidu's spinoff announcement comes against the backdrop of intensifying U.S.-China tensions over semiconductor technology. Washington has restricted China's access to cutting-edge AI chips from Nvidia Corp (NVDA), and Beijing has responded with export controls of its own.
Chinese policymakers have made domestic chip development a national priority, funneling billions of dollars toward local semiconductor capabilities. Kunlunxin is expected to collaborate with other homegrown players like Huawei Ascend, Cambricon, and yes, Alibaba itself to build out a broader domestic AI computing ecosystem, according to CNBC.
It's basically China saying: if we can't buy the chips we need, we'll build our own semiconductor industry from scratch.
Alibaba's AI Momentum
Alibaba stock has surged 73% over the past 12 months, and AI is a big reason why. The company's Alibaba Cloud division is seeing triple-digit growth in AI-related revenue, fueled by rising AI spending and new model releases like Qwen3-Max. The cloud business is becoming a genuine growth engine as adoption accelerates across China.
Analysts at Nomura believe Alibaba is perfectly positioned to capitalize on China's AI boom. They point to rapid innovation, expanding software adoption, and strong government support for domestic AI development, even as advanced chip constraints remain a challenge.
The analysts highlighted Alibaba's efforts to scale its Qwen AI models across consumer applications, cloud services, and hardware. In a notable validation, Meta Platforms Inc. (META) has adopted Qwen models. Alibaba is also working to unify Qwen into a single cross-device platform, which could deepen user engagement and support cloud expansion.
The Bigger Picture
What's happening is that China's AI ecosystem is maturing fast despite the chip restrictions. Companies like Alibaba aren't just waiting around for geopolitical tensions to ease. They're investing heavily in AI infrastructure, releasing competitive models, and finding ways to work within the constraints they face.
For Alibaba specifically, the combination of strong cloud growth, expanding AI adoption, and its increasingly capable Qwen models creates a compelling narrative. Add in government support for domestic technology and you can see why investors are getting enthusiastic.
BABA Price Action: Alibaba shares were up 4.02% at $152.47 during premarket trading on Friday, according to market data.