The AI race is heating up like never before, with companies across the globe fighting to stay on top. Right now, it’s mainly a showdown between US big tech companies and their Chinese counterparts. For example, just recently, DeepSeek, a Chinese AI chatbot, actually outpaced ChatGPT in App Store downloads. But there’s another huge player in China that’s set to grow even bigger. Alibaba, one of the world’s biggest e-commerce and retail giants, has announced plans to invest a massive 380 billion yuan (about $52.44 billion when directly converted) into its cloud computing and AI infrastructure over the next three years. This amount is more than what Alibaba has spent on these areas in the past decade combined.
Starting off 2025 strong, Alibaba is making waves in China’s AI scene, attracting investors with strategic moves. For example, Apple is among the companies turning to local giants like Alibaba and Baidu (the Google Search of China) to help launch its Apple Intelligence in China.
In fact, the two have reportedly teamed up to create an on-device system that will tweak Apple’s AI models for iPhones, iPads, and Macs in China. This system will filter and censor AI output to comply with China’s strict government regulations.
Video credit – Apple
Other Chinese companies are pouring big money into the AI space, too. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is reportedly setting aside over 150 billion yuan (around $21 billion when directly converted) for capital expenditure this year. A significant chunk of that is expected to be directed toward AI development.
And, as I mentioned earlier, DeepSeek is also making major strides, with rumors suggesting that Samsung is planning to integrate the DeepSeek AI model into its Galaxy smartphones in China.
Meanwhile, US tech giants like Meta, OpenAI, and X aren’t thrilled about the advances Chinese competitors are making. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, even accused DeepSeek of copying its work.
And that’s not all – DeepSeek has found itself at the center of controversy after being accused of bypassing US sanctions to purchase NVIDIA chips. Plus, a bipartisan group in Congress has begun pushing for a ban on DeepSeek from government devices, citing concerns over the potential access the Chinese government could have to sensitive data.
