Chinese technological breakthrough: Alibaba challenges global giants with new Zhenwu V900 chip

The new Zhenwu V900 processor, according to CEO Eddie Wu, offers three times the performance compared to the previous generation Zhenwu M890. These processors are key to learning and performing calculations for advanced artificial intelligence models in Alibaba's cloud and data centers. In addition to the hardware, Alibaba revealed plans to train a new artificial intelligence model that will contain 5 to 10 trillion parameters. This aims to get closer to the most advanced American systems, while their current most powerful model, Qwen3.8-Max, has 2.4 trillion parameters. Chinese competitor Moonshot, with its Kimi K3 model, offered an open model with 2.8 trillion parameters in July.

Due to the rapid growth in demand for computing power, Alibaba is planning a massive expansion of its data centers, aiming to reach more than 20 gigawatts of capacity by 2032. For comparison: SpaceX had about 1.4 gigawatts of power at its disposal in mid-year and plans to reach 10 gigawatts by 2027. Since such large-scale plans involve extremely complex infrastructure and technological breakthroughs, forecasts regarding stable supply and operation should be viewed with a certain degree of caution, as the sector faces global supply chain shortages.

Chinese companies are increasingly promoting their own development, as US restrictions have denied them access to the most advanced Nvidia chips and the equipment to produce them. Just last week, Huawei also introduced its new processor solutions. Analysts point out that Chinese open designs are gaining popularity around the world, and the difference with the US will depend heavily on the ability of Chinese foundries to physically manufacture them, in addition to chip design.