From CXMT to Zhipu: How Alibaba’s investment pays off with a growing AI and chip portfolio

Alibaba Group Holding's minority stake in ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is now worth more than 140 billion yuan (US$464 billion) after CXMT's listing on Monday, nearly 20 times Alibaba's reported 7.6 billion yuan investment since 2021. The windfall contrasts with Alibaba's previous 25 billion yuan impairment on its Sun Art Retail investment, as the company pivots from control acquisitions to minority stakes in AI and chip startups including Zhipu AI, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax.

Advertisement From CXMT to Zhipu: How Alibaba’s investment pays off with a growing AI and chip portfolio The company’s strategic shift to AI and chip investments is not only yielding significant returns, but also boosting its tech portfolio 2-MIN READ2-MIN Listen Wency Chen /author/wency-chen in Shanghai ChangXin Memory Technologies CXMT and Zhipu AI have not only seen their share prices skyrocket, but they have also handed a windfall to their common backer: Alibaba Group Holding https://www.scmp.com/topics/alibaba?module=breadcrumb&pgtype=article?module=inline&pgtype=article .Before the listing of China’s memory-chip giant on Monday https://sc.mp/7x67d?utm source=copy-link&utm campaign=3361926&utm medium=share widget , Alibaba owned nearly 5 per cent of CXMT, making it the chipmaker’s largest industrial shareholder, according to the prospectus. Alibaba has invested about 7.6 billion yuan in CXMT since 2021. Based on Tuesday’s closing market capitalisation of about 3.14 trillion yuan US$464 billion , Alibaba’s stake was worth more than 140 billion yuan – nearly 20 times its reported investment.These paper gains contrasted sharply with Alibaba’s previous high-profile investment. After acquiring a controlling stake in hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail in October 2020 for HK$28 billion US$3.6 billion – doubling its effective stake – it ended up with more than 25 billion yuan in impairment and disposal losses. Alibaba sold its entire stake in the company https://sc.mp/7kpwe?utm source=copy-link&utm campaign=3293065&utm medium=share widget to Chinese private-equity firm DCP Capital for HK$13.1 billion on December 31, 2024.As Alibaba refocuses on e-commerce and pivots towards artificial intelligence https://sc.mp/jnd7n?utm source=copy-link&utm campaign=3361119&utm medium=share widget , it’s moved away from control acquisitions aimed at expanding a sprawling consumer-internet empire. Instead, it has shifted towards minority stakes and industrial partnerships across the AI supply chain.In 2023, company chairman Joe Tsai laid out four capital-management priorities: improving returns from operating businesses, investing cash flow in future growth, monetising noncore assets, and returning capital to shareholders. Alibaba has also been one of the earliest and fastest-moving investors in China’s domestic model developers. As a wave of AI model start-ups emerged in 2023 and 2024, it backed Zhipu AI https://sc.mp/vkfcp?utm source=copy-link&utm campaign=3359170&utm medium=share widget , known as Z.ai overseas , Moonshot AI and MiniMax, as well as Baichuan AI and 01.AI, although the latter two have since shifted away from their foundational AI models.Alibaba also invested about US$800 million in Moonshot, the developer of the Kimi models https://sc.mp/1ni3g?utm source=copy-link&utm campaign=3361142&utm medium=share widget , for a stake of around 36 per cent, according to its fiscal 2024 filings. It joined several subsequent funding rounds, though the size of those follow-on investments was not disclosed.Advertisement Select Voice Select Speed 1.00x