Alibaba Unveils New AI Chip and Plans Massive Next-Generation Model
Hangzhou, China — September 22, 2026

Alibaba has announced a new artificial intelligence chip and plans for a next-generation AI model that could contain between 5 trillion and 10 trillion parameters, marking an expansion of the company’s efforts to build its own AI technology ecosystem.

The announcements were made at Alibaba’s annual Apsara Conference in Hangzhou on Tuesday.

New AI Chip Targets Large-Scale Computing
Alibaba’s semiconductor unit, T-Head, introduced the Zhenwu V900, a new AI chip designed to handle demanding AI workloads.

According to Alibaba, the chip delivers about three times the performance of its predecessor and can be combined into large computing clusters to support advanced AI models.

The company expects the chip to enter mass production in early 2027.

Alibaba Plans Larger AI Model
The company also revealed plans for an AI model containing between 5 trillion and 10 trillion parameters.

For comparison, Alibaba’s current flagship Qwen 3.8 Max model is significantly smaller. The planned model is intended to handle increasingly complex tasks and forms part of Alibaba’s longer-term effort to develop what the company describes as artificial superintelligence.

Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu said the company is pursuing development across the entire AI technology stack, including models, chips and data centers.

Data Center Expansion
Alibaba also outlined plans to expand its computing infrastructure.

The company aims for Alibaba Cloud’s data-center capacity to exceed 20 gigawatts by 2032, reflecting the enormous computing requirements associated with large AI models.

Following the announcements, Alibaba shares rose about 5% during Tuesday’s trading session, reaching their highest level in roughly a month, according to Reuters.

Race for AI Infrastructure Continues
The announcements highlight how major technology companies are increasingly developing AI models, specialized chips and data-center infrastructure together.

As AI systems become larger and more computationally demanding, access to chips and computing capacity is becoming an increasingly important part of the technology industry’s development.

Source: Reuters.