This move signals that the company aims to do much more than just upgrade its infrastructure. As the U.S. enforces tighter restrictions on Nvidia’s high-performance chips, including newly banning H20 GPUs intended for China, Chinese tech titans are increasingly choosing not to seek workarounds abroad. Alibaba appears to be laying the root for a digital escape door. By extending its pall footmark into Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas, the company aims to give harmonious AI services for Chinese enterprises beyond domestic borders.
That trouble is formerly underway. So far in 2025, Alibaba has opened new regions in Mexico and Thailand. The thing seems clear to insure Chinese companies can tap into slice– edge cipher capacity, indeed as import controls disrupt force chains at home. This strategy may also reflect how some enterprises, like ByteDance, reportedly access Nvidia chips through overseas structure — exploiting a loophole in jurisdictional enforcement.
Interestingly, Alibaba’s own leadership has questioned the sustainability of the AI structure smash. Chairman Joe Tsai preliminarily likened the current pall structure spree to a bubble, citing apprehension over academic data center developments funded by eager capital.
Still, with Alibaba presently operating 87 vacuity zones across 29 regions, Wu’s renewed global ambition reflects a belief that tech sovereignty in AI starts not with chips but with terrain.
