Alibaba shares climbed on Wednesday after Chinese state media reported that China Unicom will use the company’s artificial intelligence chips in a major data center project.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, the telecom giant will deploy AI accelerators from Alibaba’s semiconductor arm, Pingtouge (T-Head). While Alibaba does not sell chips directly, customers can access their computing power through Alibaba Cloud services. A source familiar with the matter confirmed the report’s accuracy to CNBC.
Following the news, Alibaba shares closed more than 5% higher in Hong Kong, while its U.S.-listed stock rose over 2% in premarket trading.
The partnership is part of China Unicom’s new Sanjiangyuan data center in Qinghai province, which will also integrate chips from domestic firms including MetaX and Biren Technology. The move highlights China’s push to expand reliance on homegrown semiconductors for AI, especially as access to Nvidia chips remains uncertain.
On the same day, the Financial Times reported that China’s internet regulator instructed firms to halt purchases of certain Nvidia AI chips, sending Nvidia shares down about 1% in premarket trade.
Alibaba, one of China’s leading AI players, has developed proprietary AI models and is among the country’s largest cloud computing providers. It is also working on a new AI chip, though it remains unclear whether China Unicom will deploy this latest design.