Alibaba announced on Wednesday a significant collaboration with US chipmaker Nvidia that the Chinese company described as a milestone in the development of humanoid robots. The announcement came as Alibaba’s shares jumped more than nine percent in Hong Kong after chief executive Eddie Wu revealed plans to expand investment in artificial intelligence.
The partnership comes amid intensifying competition between China and the United States in advanced technology. Nvidia, based in California, has become a central player in the global race for AI hardware. However, Washington has imposed restrictions preventing Nvidia from exporting its most advanced chips, which are vital for generative AI, to China.
Alibaba, which operates some of China’s largest e-commerce platforms, confirmed that its cloud division is adopting “the full suite of the Nvidia physical AI software stack, marking a milestone collaboration” in the sector. According to a statement, “the initiative provides developers with a comprehensive, cloud-native platform to accelerate advancements in humanoid robotics and physical AI solutions.”
The announcement was made in Hangzhou during a subforum of Alibaba’s annual developers’ conference, which featured executives from both Nvidia and Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. Earlier this year, Alibaba pledged to invest at least 380 billion yuan, or 53 billion dollars, in artificial intelligence and cloud computing over three years.
At the event, CEO Eddie Wu reaffirmed the company’s commitment. “We are actively proceeding with the 380 billion investment in AI infrastructure, and plan to add more,” he said. He also noted that energy consumption from Alibaba Cloud’s global data centres is expected to rise tenfold by 2032 compared with levels seen in 2022 when generative AI tools first gained traction.
In March, China announced a trillion-yuan initiative to support technology startups, including those in robotics and AI. The country already leads the world in industrial robot usage, according to official data.
Meanwhile, tensions remain over Nvidia’s role in the Chinese market. Beijing has encouraged companies to rely on domestic chip suppliers, citing national security concerns. Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expressed disappointment at reports that Chinese firms had been barred from purchasing the company’s RTX Pro 6000D processors, which were designed specifically for China. This followed confirmation from the United States that Nvidia must pay Washington 15 percent of revenue from certain AI chip sales in the Chinese market.
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