Alibaba Cloud has revealed plans to expand its international infrastructure to meet surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services. The company will launch its first data centres in Brazil, France and the Netherlands, with new facilities also planned in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Dubai over the coming year. Regional service centres will open in Indonesia and Germany to provide 24/7, multi-language customer support.
The announcement was made during the Apsara Conference 2025, Alibaba Cloud’s flagship technology event. The expansion will add to the company’s current network of 91 availability zones across 29 regions worldwide .
Dr Feifei Li, president of international business and senior vice president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, said AI is transforming the way enterprises create value and drive growth. “Our strategic expansion of global infrastructure is designed to cater for the accelerating demand from forward-thinking customers,” she said. “We are here to help partners and customers design, launch and scale groundbreaking AI agents and applications, fuelling the next generation of digital innovation.”
Boosting AI adoption with new initiatives
To support emerging AI companies, Alibaba Cloud has introduced the AI Catalyst Program. Participants will receive expert guidance, access to AI tools and up to US$120,000 in cloud credits. They will also be able to use up to two billion free tokens on Model Studio, the company’s generative AI development platform .
Alibaba Cloud’s Platform for AI (PAI) has integrated NVIDIA’s Physical AI software stack, enabling developers to build advanced humanoid robotics and physical AI applications more quickly. The move highlights Alibaba Cloud’s focus on fostering innovation in specialised AI domains.
In Europe, Alibaba Cloud is working with the International Skating Union (ISU) and Thinksport, an innovation platform supported by the International Olympic Committee, to host the Sports Data Hack Challenge. Running from October to December 2025, the event aims to accelerate AI and cloud adoption in sports by connecting startups, developers and industry experts .
Partnerships driving sector-specific AI solutions
Several global companies are already leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s AI and cloud technologies. In China, AstraZeneca has developed an adverse event reporting tool using Alibaba Cloud’s large language model Qwen and Model Studio. The tool has improved reporting accuracy to an estimated 95% and boosted efficiency by 300% compared to manual analysis.
Shiseido is strengthening its cybersecurity in China with Alibaba Cloud’s Cloud Threat Detection and Response platform, which uses AI to analyse security alerts and respond to threats faster. The beauty and cosmetics group is also using the Managed Detection and Response service for 24/7 threat monitoring and incident response.
In Japan, digital marketing firm GladCube is using Alibaba’s visual generation model Wan to enhance video production and create AI avatars for corporate communication. AI startup FLUX has partnered with Alibaba Tongyi Lab to develop FLUX-Japanese-Qwen, a large language model designed to improve Japanese comprehension and support the financial sector.
Turbo AI, another partner, uses Alibaba Cloud’s secure infrastructure to deliver scalable AI solutions, from model development to deployment, optimising cost and operational performance for clients across the region.
