Alibaba shares surge after launch of new DeepSeek competitor

Alibaba shares surge after launch of new DeepSeek competitor

/ 02:21 PM March 06, 2025

Companies put record amount in shareholders' pockets: report

FILE PHOTO: A man walks past Alibaba Group’s logo at its office building in Beijing, China August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

Beijing, China — Alibaba shares surged more than seven percent in Hong Kong trade on Thursday after the Chinese tech giant launched an artificial intelligence model it says can compete with DeepSeek, this year’s surprise tech star.

Investors have been riding high on China’s AI capabilities since January, when DeepSeek unveiled a state-of-the-art chatbot seemingly at a fraction of the cost assumed necessary by Western industry leaders.

Article continues after this advertisement

Alibaba says its newest AI model announced on Thursday morning, called QwQ-32B, has a “comparable performance” to DeepSeek while also requiring far less data to run.

FEATURED STORIES

READ: DeepSeek: Chinese AI firm sending shock waves through US tech

Shares in the e-commerce powerhouse rose more than seven percent before a midday pause in trading at Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange.

China’s vast tech industry has enjoyed several weeks of revamped market confidence.

Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma was seen meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at a symposium for the country’s leading business figures last month, ending years out of the spotlight.

Article continues after this advertisement

The billionaire entrepreneur had criticised government regulations in late 2020, shortly before Beijing scuttled Alibaba’s imminent blockbuster IPO.

A broader regulatory crackdown that followed wiped more than a trillion dollars off the value of China’s major tech firms.

Article continues after this advertisement

But Ma’s inclusion in last month’s meeting hinted at his potential public rehabilitation following his tangle with regulators.

DeepSeek’s arrival on the scene this year has pleased authorities, who have intensified efforts to revitalise lacklustre activity in the world’s second-largest economy in recent months.

Alibaba’s QwQ-32B joins another recent entrant, Tencent’s Yuanbao, in an enhanced domestic rivalry with DeepSeek.

In a potential boost for the firm, Beijing promised on Wednesday to enhance support for consumption, which has been sluggish in China since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

Hangzhou-based Alibaba — operator of some of China’s top online shopping platforms — said last month it planned to spend more than $50 billion on AI and cloud computing over the next three years.

TAGS: Alibaba, DeepSeek

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2025 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.