Alibaba targets European cloud gains with new AI strategy

Alibaba Cloud has unveiled a new suite of AI solutions as part of a sweeping expansion strategy across Europe.

Announced at Alibaba’s European Summit in Paris, the company says its expanded offerings for customers reinforce its “long-term commitment” to the region.

“Today’s service enhancements reflect our continued commitment to the European market, facilitating businesses in the region with AI-powered tools and solutions to stay competitive in the evolving AI era,” said Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.

Customers spanning a range of industries, including luxury fashion, healthcare, and the automotive industry, will be given access to an array of AI-optimized tools, intelligent industrial solutions, and new cloud options, the company said.

This includes a sweeping upgrade of the Platform for AI (PAI), Alibaba Cloud’s AI computing and development platform based out of the Frankfurt cloud region. The upgrade will allow customers across Europe to use the company’s deep learning and intelligent computing services.

Now with “enhanced efficiency and scalability” Alibaba said the upgraded service is designed to match growing compute demand for critical workloads.

“Powered by PAI AI Scheduler, Alibaba Cloud’s proprietary cloud-native scheduling engine, the upgraded platform optimizes the intelligent integration of diverse computing resources,” the company said in a statement.

“It offers flexible resource scheduling, real-time task adjustments, and automatic fault recovery, achieving an impressive effective compute utilization rate exceeding 96%.”

Meanwhile, the company also announced the launch of a new AI Guardrails service aimed at bolstering compliance and security for AI deployments.

The new solution is available through the company’s Singapore region and will provide “robust, multi-layered security” by allowing users to verify text, images, files, audio, and video content through natural language requests.

“Threat defense is also implemented through real-time prevention of external attacks, including malicious prompts, harmful file uploads, and suspicious URLs,” Alibaba Cloud said.

Alibaba Cloud looks to drive European gains in Asian markets

A key focus of the expansion will be to drive European gains in Asian markets, according to Alibaba Cloud.

The company currently serves as a strategic partner for companies in the region, having recently announced a collaboration with SAP to provide the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools for customers in China and eventually Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

In March, BMW and Alibaba expanded their partnership in China to accelerate the integration of Alibaba’s Qwen models in BMW vehicles.

Alibaba said this latest move aims to foster closer ties with existing and potential European partners.

Part of this includes a new deal with Brest Business School (BBS) to support AI talent development. The company said the collaboration will place a particular focus on “advancing AI innovation, digital transformation, and cross-border collaboration”.

Additionally, BBS and Alibaba Cloud will co-develop academic programs and training on AI and cloud computing while collaborating on digital transformation consultation.

“This collaboration reflects a shared vision to equip students, professionals, and organisations with future-ready digital skills, while strengthening academic-industry ties between Europe and Asia,” the company said.

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