Alibaba levels up AI platform with Nvidia's robotics software — here's how it will work

Alibaba Group Holdings is incorporating Nvidia Corp’s ‘physical’ artificial intelligence (AI) development tools into its cloud software platform.

This development in the Hangzhou-based company’s Cloud Intelligence unit will allow customers to use Nvidia's suite of AI tools in developing applications for physical world, such as humanoid robots to self-driving cars, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Strategic collaboration between two AI giants

This collaboration is significant as it brings together two leading names in AI development. Nvidia is a US-based chip-making giant, whereas Alibaba is one of China's top cloud computing and service providers.

Alibaba Cloud’s Platform for AI will include the full Nvidia Physical AI software stack among its menu of options for developers, the company said at its annual Apsara developer conference in Hangzhou on Wednesday.

Alibaba to increase AI investment

The announcement came shortly after Alibaba's Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu revealed plans to increase the company's investment in AI infrastructure beyond the previously announced 380 billion yuan ($53 billion).

This commitment helped drive the company’s shares to their highest point in nearly four years.

Alibaba recently launched its new Qwen-3 Max model, the most powerful and advanced large language model (LLM) from the Chinese AI company. The new model is positioned to compete with OpenAI's GPT-5, Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro and Claude's Opus 4, among others, Mint reported earlier.

Alibaba marketed the model by promising reduced hallucinations (making stuff up) and higher-quality responses to open-ended questions.

Nvidia faces curbs in China

Alibaba's partnership with Nvidia defies the recent tensions between the US and China over trade and technology. A while back, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he is disappointed by the tight restrictions on selling the company's advanced chips to China.

Furthermore, a report emerged earlier which claimed that China's internet regulator is banning domestic tech companies from purchasing a specific Nvidia chip model designed for the local market, Financial Times reported.

Adding to the Nvidia's challenges to sustain its business in China, Beijing regulators also accused the semiconductor giant of antitrust breaches stemming from a 2020 acquisition of an Israeli tech company.