Alibaba Group unveiled a new version of its AI assistant, as the race to offer the top generative AI chatbot heats up in China. U.S.-listed Alibaba stock gained in Thursday trading.
The update to Alibaba's Quark AI assistant is the first version to be fully powered by Alibaba's custom artificial intelligence models. It can handle tasks such as academic research and document drafting, as well as image generation, travel planning and other problem solving, according to a post on Alibaba's official news website. The application has more than 200 million users, according to the post.
On the stock market today, U.S.-listed Alibaba stock added 1% to close at 138.47.
Alibaba's $52 Billion AI Push
Alibaba, an e-commerce and cloud-computing tech behemoth, said last month that it will spend more than $50 billion over the next three years on the tech infrastructure required for AI.
The tech giant is competing to provide the best AI model in China against startups like DeepSeek as well as other China tech giants such as Baidu and WeChat-parent company Tencent. A new Manus AI chatbot tool developed by a Chinese startup is capturing attention in the tech world as well, though it is still in a limited preview phase.
U.S.-listed Alibaba stock fell following the investment pledge on Feb. 24. But Alibaba's AI push has generally been popular with investors. Alibaba stock jumped after the company reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings last month, which showed a big jump in revenue for its cloud business that Alibaba credited to AI demand.
On Jan. 29, Alibaba released an AI model it said outperforms the models of China-based rival DeepSeek. Alibaba's models are also comparable to "top tier models," the company said.
Two weeks later, Alibaba stock soared on news that Apple will be working with Alibaba to introduce AI features to iPhones in China.
Alibaba Stock Rallying In 2025
Entering Thursday trading, U.S.-listed Alibaba stock had rallied 61% year-to-date. But shares have traded with some volatility in recent weeks as investors react to a trade war between the U.S. and China.
Meanwhile, Alibaba stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 93 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The score combines five separate proprietary ratings into one rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
However, investors should take note that Alibaba stock has a 21-day ATR of 5.7%. The average true range is a metric available on IBD's MarketSurge charting tool. It gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior.
Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily action have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more gradual moves have lower ATRs. In a volatile market, IBD suggests stocks with ATRs of 3 or below.
