On February 13, 2025, Dubai, UAE, became the epicenter of global innovation as it hosted the highly anticipated World Governments Summit 2025. This summit attracted technology giants and industry experts from around the world, all converging to discuss the evolving trends in cutting-edge technology. Among the notable speakers, Alibaba co-founder and chairman, Joseph Tsai, delivered insightful comments on the current state of AI competition, sparking numerous discussions among attendees and the wider tech community.
Joseph Tsai vividly illustrated the competitive landscape by stating, “In this AI race, who’s better, whose AI is superior? The answer tomorrow will differ from the answer yesterday. Right now, everyone is in a rather intense competition.” His remarks reflect the rapid pace at which AI technology is evolving; novel models and algorithms emerge almost daily. From initial simple image recognition to today's complex natural language processing, AI technologies have infiltrated every facet of life. Businesses are in fierce competition during this technological wave, striving to secure a stronghold in advancements.
When questioned about Alibaba's position in relation to robust competitors like DeepSeek and Grok, Tsai expressed his excitement as an avid user of various AI products available on the market. He emphasized that innovation is relentless in the fluctuating AI arena. Each new model released serves as a testament to the limitless potential of technology. The emergence of new challengers, equipped with innovative techniques and ideologies, routinely leads to more advanced and efficient AI products—this trajectory is set to define the future of the AI industry.
Tsai didn't hold back in praising DeepSeek's achievements. He highlighted its pivotal role in engineering innovation, which has significantly lowered the training and inference costs associated with large language models. Historically, the cost of training and inferring such models has loomed like an insurmountable mountain, dissuading numerous enterprises from venturing into AI. The breakthroughs achieved by DeepSeek have opened new doors within the industry, enabling a wider array of companies and research institutions to engage in the research and application of AI technologies, accelerating its adoption in everyday use.
In discussing the strategic layout for AI development, Tsai underscored the significance of investing not only in AI infrastructure but also in the profound value of AI applications. He likened investments in frontier models to education, urging deep reflection: “We must start asking ourselves, what is the purpose of developing AI? Is it to win every Nobel Prize? Or to genuinely transform lives?” He pointed out that the world faces numerous pressing problems—ranging from disease diagnostics in healthcare to ecological monitoring for environmental protection and intelligent scheduling in transportation—where AI could play a substantial role. Tsai emphasized the necessity of channeling more resources into AI applications to ensure technologies tangibly benefit humanity.
Furthermore, Tsai highlighted the open-source value philosophy that comes with DeepSeek's advancements. He candidly stated, “If your sole goal today is to develop a closed-source AI system, even if the most brilliant PhD students and Nobel Laureates are involved, I personally believe the value of such efforts is nearing zero.” For him, open-source communities represent a colossal ecosystem of innovation, gathering the wisdom and capabilities of developers worldwide. With the continuous evolution of open-source technology, future development is likely to witness a surge of small, specialized models catering to diverse scenarios and needs. He cited Taobao's development of a shopping assistant to illustrate that not all applications require massive language models with trillions of parameters. Enabled by open-source collaboration, industry giants and startups alike can establish a formidable presence in AI development.
During the summit, a particularly groundbreaking announcement captured global attention—Tsai revealed that Apple would be deepening its collaboration with Alibaba in the realm of AI. It was indicated that, in an effort to develop competitive AI functionality for the iPhone in China, Apple would actively seek partnerships with Chinese AI companies. Renowned for its high standards concerning collaborators, Apple held in-depth discussions with several Chinese firms before ultimately selecting Alibaba. This partnership not only represents a significant recognition of Alibaba's technical prowess and innovative capabilities in AI but also foreshadows a promising avenue for both entities to explore the intersection of AI technology and smartphone applications, potentially revolutionizing the user experience for iPhone users in China.
Following the announcement, Alibaba's stock market witnessed a dramatic surge, reflecting investor enthusiasm. On the afternoon of February 13, the stock price soared as much as 9%, reaching a three-year high. Although the gains tapered off somewhat by the closing bell, they still ended the day at 116.7 HKD per share, achieving a 2.55% increase. This volatility clearly indicated the market's high attention and strong anticipation regarding Alibaba's strategic positioning and progression in the AI sphere. The collaboration not only brings new opportunities for Alibaba but also secures a vital seat for the Chinese AI industry in the global arena.
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