Alibaba to spend $15bn on AI, IoT and more

Alibaba is working on an initiative called Alibaba DAMO Academy which will see it more than double R&D spending to $15 billion over the next three years.

The e-commerce giant, which is looking to keep pace with Amazon and Tencent, plans to set up seven research labs and hire 100 scientists around the world with a focus on artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and quantum computing. Specific fields include machine learning, visual computing and network security.

“The labs will help solve issues that Alibaba is currently facing across its business lines,” Jeff Zhang, Alibaba’s Chief Technology Officer told Bloomberg. “It will also be at the forefront of developing next-generation technology.”