Alibaba's shares jump after it lands a major customer for its AI chips

Alibaba shares roseate connected Wednesday aft Chinese authorities media reported that the e-commerce elephantine secured a large lawsuit for its artificial quality chips.

China Unicom volition deploy Alibaba's AI accelerators from its semiconductor portion called Pingtouge oregon T-Head, according to a study from China authorities broadcaster CCTV. Alibaba does not merchantability chips directly, but companies tin efficaciously usage the computing powerfulness based connected those semiconductors by buying Alibaba unreality services.

A idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance endorsed the accuracy of the CCTV study to CNBC.

Alibaba was not instantly disposable for remark erstwhile contacted by CNBC.

Shares of Alibaba closed much than 5% higher successful Hong Kong, and the company's U.S.-listed banal was up much than 2% successful premarket trade.

Alibaba's computing powerfulness volition beryllium utilized by China Unicom, the country's second-largest telecommunications company, arsenic portion of a large caller information halfway task successful China that volition besides see chips from different home firms including MetaX and Biren Technology.

The determination underscores China's efforts to boost the usage of its ain home semiconductors for AI astatine a clip erstwhile Nvidia' entree to the world's second-largest system remains successful a authorities of flux.

On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported that China's net regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, told companies to halt buying definite Nvidia AI chips. Shares of Nvidia were astir 1% little successful premarket trading.

Alibaba is 1 of China's starring AI players. It has developed its ain AI models and is 1 of the biggest unreality computing players locally. At the aforesaid time, it is processing a marque caller AI chip, CNBC reported past month.

It is unclear if China Unicom is utilizing Alibaba's latest chips. Information astir the 2 companies' concern emerged aft CCTV showed a billboard containing the details arsenic portion of a study connected the telecoms giant's caller Sanjiangyuan information halfway successful Qinghai province.