Alibaba Cloud expands AI reach with new data centres & courses

Alibaba Cloud announced a significant expansion plan at the Alibaba Cloud Global Summit in Paris. Over the next three years, the company will launch its first cloud region in Mexico and establish additional data centres in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and South Korea.

This investment aims to enhance Alibaba Cloud's capabilities in cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) products for customers worldwide. It also focuses on fostering global partnerships and nurturing future AI experts. At the summit, Alibaba Cloud unveiled several new initiatives designed to augment this expansion.

One of the key highlights is the international launch of Model Studio, a generative AI development platform. This platform will be available through Alibaba Cloud's Singapore Availability Zones and is designed to support enterprises and developers in creating custom AI applications using the Qwen Family of Large Language Models. These models range from 0.5 billion to several hundred billion parameters and offer multimodal capabilities, providing cost-effective solutions for sophisticated AI tasks. Additional model finetuning and inferencing tools and services will be rolled out in the latter half of the year.

To elevate customer experience, Alibaba Cloud has deepened its collaboration with SAP to introduce an integrated cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia. This solution leverages Alibaba Cloud's compute nest technology and SAP Business One to deliver enhanced deployment and integration capabilities. This collaboration aims to empower SMEs with better operational efficiency, agility, and the ability to capitalise on growth opportunities.

Additionally, Alibaba Cloud will develop a Salesforce on Alibaba Cloud training course in China. This initiative is targeted at multinational companies to help them master the Salesforce CRM platform in the Chinese market, addressing both global and local needs. The structured training program includes offline sessions to equip participants with the necessary skills to navigate and utilise Salesforce on Alibaba Cloud effectively. The program aims to train over 10,000 participants by the end of 2025.

Alibaba Cloud is also expanding its digital training initiatives with global education institutes. In partnership with Demos Group, a leading corporate training provider in Europe, Alibaba Cloud will offer online courses on cloud computing, data analytics, and AI. Further collaborations with universities, such as the University of Reading and the Singapore University of Social Sciences, are set to introduce cloud computing and AI courses to cultivate future AI experts.

The company's initiatives have already attracted significant interest from global businesses. For instance, LVMH Group is leveraging Alibaba Cloud's AI capabilities to innovate its luxury retail experience in China, while FathomX, a digital health AI company from the National University of Singapore, has utilised Alibaba Cloud infrastructure to expand their AI-driven breast cancer detection system, reducing their infrastructure costs by 27.6% annually. The International Canoe Federation is also exploring Alibaba Cloud's AI-driven ESG solutions to enhance sustainability at its global events.

Selina Yuan, President of International Business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, emphasised the company's commitment to expanding AI infrastructure globally and equipping the next generation with essential AI skills through these initiatives.