Alibaba says its annualized AI revenue is approaching 50 billion yuan, and it claims its compute investment will pay for itself in three years. The company released its latest earnings today and, for the first time, split its AI operations into two units under a new organizational structure.
Alibaba Cloud and T-Head — the company's chip subsidiary — now sit under "AI Cloud and Compute," while its model lab, the Qianwen consumer business, and QwenWork are grouped under "AI Lab and Applications."
The former generated 48.437 billion yuan in revenue this quarter, up 45% year over year; AI-related product revenue reached 12.376 billion yuan, marking the 12th consecutive quarter of triple-digit annual growth. The profitability gap between the two businesses is already clear: AI Cloud and Compute posted adjusted EBITA of 5.628 billion yuan, up 133%, with margin climbing to around 12%. AI Lab and Applications revenue…