Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai said on October 8 at an international technology and investment summit in Italy that artificial intelligence (AI) will transform from an explicit topic into invisible infrastructure in the future. He predicted that in five years people may no longer discuss AI separately; the technology will integrate into every aspect of business like the internet, continuing to have a profound impact on commerce and society.
Joe Tsai Predicts AI Will Become Invisible Infrastructure in the Future
Speaking on technology applications, Tsai noted that AI currently excels at helping people save time, but has yet to achieve equivalent breakthroughs in helping people spend time, leaving room for development. He believes boosting knowledge workers' productivity is AI's most certain use case, and estimates the total addressable market at approximately $50 trillion. Meanwhile, AI will also become a key tool for accelerating innovation in fields such as healthcare and scientific research.
Regarding China's AI industry advantages, Tsai said China accounts for about 30% of global industrial output, and the vast process data accumulated by manufacturing can be used to train AI models. In addition, China possesses a complete hardware supply chain in areas such as electric vehicles and robotics; when AI further integrates with the physical world, supply chain advantages will translate into core competitiveness.
Tsai divided Alibaba's development into two phases, using 2023 as the dividing line: 1999 to 2023 was the company's "BC" period, and from 2023 onward the company entered its "AD" period, explicitly focusing on e-commerce and full-stack AI as its two core businesses, and regarding AI as a key direction for the future.
Alibaba to Fully Advance Full-Stack AI Layout
He said Alibaba will advance its full-stack AI layout across compute, models, and the application layer. In addition, he again emphasized the importance of open source, believing it enables more people to benefit, and noted that European industrial enterprises can likewise leverage open-source models and local cloud infrastructure to improve business operations.