Alibaba Gets AI Boost, and Cathie Wood Is Buying

Alibaba is on a roll, and it’s not just because Jack’s back. The company’s shares surged to their highest in nearly four years after revealing plans to ramp up AI spending past an original $50 billion-plus target, joining tech leaders pledging ever-greater sums toward a global race for technological breakthroughs.

Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu anticipates overall investment in artificial intelligence accelerating to some $4 trillion worldwide over the next five years — and Alibaba needs to keep up. The company will soon add to a plan laid out in February to spend more than 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) developing AI models and infrastructure over three years, he said.