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China’s top e-commerce firm, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, is launching a $15-billion drive to build overseas research hubs as the deep-pocketed firm looks to compete with global leaders in e-commerce, logistics and cloud technology.
The Alibaba ‘Damo’ academy will launch eight research bases in China, Israel, the United States, Russia and Singapore and was hiring 100 researchers to work on artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and fintech, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Alibaba DAMO Academy will be at the forefront of developing next-generation technology that will spur the growth of Alibaba and our partners,” Chief Technology Officer Jeff Zhang said.
Along with an existing data science research lab in California, Alibaba has opened new data centres in Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Australia, Japan, India and Indonesia since 2016, in a bid to boost its cloud business.
The investment also comes as Beijing prioritises state funding in quantum computing, AI and big data, urging provincial governments, universities, the military and private firms to play a bigger role in developing advanced technology in areas where China trails developed countries.
Alibaba says the new research infrastructure will help them meet a goal of two billion customers within two decades.
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