Alibaba’s AI cloud growth surge drives earnings despite soaring tech spending

Alibaba Group Holding on Thursday reported revenue growth of 45 per cent for its cloud and artificial intelligence division in the June quarter, driving adjusted profit to a better-than-expected 27.3 billion yuan (US$4 billion). The company assured investors that its soaring spending on AI infrastructure would pay off, with executives noting in an earnings call that its AI computing investments would break even within three years – or possibly two as gross margins rose. AI Cloud and Compute...