Alibaba Group Holding Limited headed the largest-ever fundraising venture for a Chinese AI startup. It is the most recent in a series of significant investments that indicate the e-commerce giant is investing more heavily to expand.
Alibaba has invested significantly in generative artificial intelligence, the technology that drives ChatGPT, joining Tencent Holdings Limited and other Silicon Valley giants like Microsoft Corporation.
Together with current supporter Monolith Management, t led a $1 billion fundraising round in Moonshot AI, increasing the year-old company’s worth eight-fold to almost $2.5 billion, according to sources familiar with the deal. The persons, who wished to remain anonymous while discussing a private transaction, said that they had joined earlier supporters such as Hongshan, previously Sequoia China, and the investment arm of Meituan, the food delivery behemoth.
Moonshot AI is one of the more well-known Chinese businesses. It was established in March of 2023. It focused on generative AI, with aspirations to someday compete with OpenAI and Google. Since releasing its Kimi chatbot for the general public in November of last year, it has introduced a platform that allows developers to create AI apps on top of its model. The company was only worth three hundred million dollars when it first obtained investment.
Moonshot AI refused to respond regarding the organization’s funding information initially made public by the local press 36kr. Monolith declared its involvement in the most recent round without providing any specifics. Requests for comments from Alibaba representatives were met with silence.
Joseph Tsai and Eddie Wu, the company’s new CEOs, have promised to turn around a struggling business severely damaged by two years of scrutiny from regulators and a downturn in the economy. It promotes fresh investment in disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and coordinates a convoluted multi-way division to elevate the company’s operations from cloud to logistics. According to Tsai, the cloud division currently services roughly 80% of China’s IT companies and is home to half of the nation’s generative AI startups.
However, they are entering a competitive industry as tech giants and venture capital firms invest billions in AI service development and training following an explosion of growth in Silicon Valley and Europe’s tech sector. Other Chinese AI businesses, like Baichuan and Zhipu, raised substantial sums from investors.
There are persistent worries about United States boycotts that prevent Chinese companies from purchasing the most efficient Nvidia Corporation chips needed to develop and execute AI models. Washington has targeted China’s efforts to develop AI due to the technology’s potential for military and geopolitical use, which could complicate already strained relations.
Alibaba and longstanding competitor Tencent previously participated in a three hundred dollars million funding deal for Zhipu in 2023. The company is attempting to bring back the cloud industry and include AI into a broad entertainment business with its proprietary model, Tongyi Qianwen.
