Alibaba Cloud has initiated a significant global expansion, announcing new data centers across multiple continents and forging a strategic partnership with NVIDIA to accelerate advancements in artificial intelligence. The initiative, revealed at the company’s Apsara Conference 2025, aims to meet the surging enterprise demand for AI-powered solutions by strengthening its worldwide infrastructure and fostering a robust ecosystem for AI development.
This expansion addresses the core needs of a rapidly evolving digital landscape, where businesses increasingly rely on sophisticated AI to drive growth and operational efficiency. By integrating NVIDIA’s advanced Physical AI software stack and launching an AI Catalyst Program, Alibaba Cloud is positioning itself to empower developers and enterprises to build and deploy next-generation AI applications, particularly in the fields of robotics and autonomous systems. The strategy underscores a commitment to making powerful AI tools and a resilient cloud infrastructure more accessible to a global clientele, facilitating innovation from startups to established industry leaders.
Expanding Global Infrastructure
Alibaba Cloud is significantly broadening its international presence with the establishment of new data centers in strategic locations worldwide. The company has announced the launch of facilities in Brazil, France, and the Netherlands. This initial rollout is part of a larger, more ambitious plan that includes additional data centers in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Dubai, all expected to come online within the next 12 months. This expansion will increase Alibaba Cloud’s global footprint to 91 availability zones across 29 regions, enhancing its capacity to deliver high-performance, low-latency cloud services to a growing international customer base.
To complement its infrastructure growth, Alibaba Cloud is also enhancing its customer support capabilities. New regional service centers are being established in Indonesia and Germany. These centers will provide 24/7 multilingual support, ensuring that clients around the world receive timely and effective assistance. Dr. Feifei Li, President of International Business and SVP of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, stated that this strategic expansion is designed to cater to the accelerating demand from customers who are integrating AI into their core business operations. The goal is to provide a comprehensive cloud and AI solution that supports businesses anytime and anywhere.
NVIDIA Partnership and Physical AI
A cornerstone of Alibaba Cloud’s strategy is its deepened collaboration with NVIDIA, a leader in accelerated computing. Through this partnership, the full suite of NVIDIA’s Physical AI software stack has been integrated into Alibaba Cloud’s Platform for AI (PAI). This integration provides developers with a powerful, cloud-native environment for creating and deploying advanced applications in robotics and other areas of Physical AI, which encompasses AI systems that interact with the physical world, such as autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. This collaboration aims to provide the necessary tools and flexibility to drive innovation in these complex fields.
Fostering an AI Ecosystem
Beyond the technological integration, Alibaba Cloud has introduced its AI Catalyst Program. This initiative is designed to nurture the global technology ecosystem by supporting select AI firms. Participants in the program will receive expert mentorship, access to Alibaba’s advanced AI tools, and substantial allocations of cloud credits and tokens. By lowering the barriers to entry and providing critical resources, the program aims to stimulate innovation and help startups and established companies alike to design, launch, and scale groundbreaking AI agents and applications. This ecosystem-building effort is central to Alibaba Cloud’s vision of co-evolving with its customers and partners to unlock new value in the global marketplace.
Industry Applications and Case Studies
Alibaba Cloud’s AI technologies are already making a significant impact across a diverse range of industries, demonstrating the practical benefits of its platform. In the pharmaceutical sector, AstraZeneca China is leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s large language model, Qwen, and its Model Studio to develop a next-generation tool for reporting adverse events. This new system has achieved 95% accuracy in drug safety reviews and has tripled operational efficiency. Xin Zhong, Head of Commercial IT at AstraZeneca China, noted that the collaboration has vastly improved the efficiency of generating reports from large volumes of medical literature.
In the beauty and retail industry, Shiseido China utilizes Alibaba Cloud’s AI-driven Cloud Threat Detection and Response (CTDR) platform to protect its digital infrastructure. This service provides real-time security analytics and expert threat hunting, enabling the company to respond to cyber threats with greater speed and accuracy. According to Jerry Lin, CITO of Shiseido China & Travel Retail, this partnership provides the confidence to scale their digital transformation securely, allowing them to focus on customer experience while their cloud infrastructure is protected by advanced security measures.
Supporting Startups and Innovation
The impact of Alibaba Cloud’s AI extends to startups and marketing firms as well. In Japan, companies like GladCube and FLUX are using Alibaba’s AI models and infrastructure to innovate in content creation and financial sector applications. Hiroki Kaneshima, President & CEO of GladCube, expressed confidence that the partnership will revolutionize creative content production and reshape the future of digital marketing in the country. Similarly, Turbo AI is partnering with Alibaba Cloud to deliver integrated AI solutions to regional clients, leveraging the platform’s secure and resilient infrastructure. Yuan Lu, Big Data Head of Turbo AI, highlighted that the ability to dynamically configure and scale computing resources allows them to enhance operational efficiency and optimize costs for their clients’ AI workloads.
Strategic Vision for the Future
The recent announcements from Alibaba Cloud signal a clear and ambitious vision for the future of AI and cloud computing. The company is not merely expanding its physical infrastructure but is also cultivating a rich ecosystem designed to foster innovation and collaboration on a global scale. By providing both the foundational infrastructure and the advanced tools necessary for AI development, Alibaba Cloud aims to empower businesses of all sizes to harness the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. Dr. Feifei Li emphasized that AI is revolutionizing the very foundation of how enterprises deliver value and drive growth, and Alibaba Cloud intends to be at the forefront of this transformation.
The strategic partnership with NVIDIA is particularly significant, as it addresses one of the most complex and promising frontiers in AI: the interaction between intelligent systems and the physical world. By equipping developers with the tools to build sophisticated robotics and autonomous systems, Alibaba Cloud is helping to lay the groundwork for the next generation of digital innovation. This focus on Physical AI, combined with the company’s commitment to supporting a global community of developers and entrepreneurs through initiatives like the AI Catalyst Program, positions Alibaba Cloud as a key enabler of future technological breakthroughs. The company’s comprehensive approach, spanning from infrastructure to platform services and ecosystem support, is designed to help partners and customers unlock unprecedented value in the global marketplace.