Alibaba says its AI spending in e-commerce is already breaking even (www.cnbc.com)

Alibaba’s e‑commerce unit says its AI investments are already paying off: Kaifu Zhang, vice president overseeing e‑commerce AI, told reporters that preliminary tests show consistent gains—most notably a 12% increase in returns on advertising spend—and that AI-driven features like personalized search ranking and more accurate virtual clothing try‑ons are being rolled out across the platform. The comments come as Alibaba ramps up AI and cloud spending (it pledged 380 billion yuan over three years and has recently increased investment) and ahead of Singles Day presales, where Zhang expects a “very significant” positive impact on gross merchandise volume. For the AI/ML community, the announcement is a concrete data point countering concerns that heavy AI spend yields little ROI. A double‑digit ad ROAS uplift in controlled tests is notable because such gains are rare in mature digital ad ecosystems; it suggests that advanced personalization and simulation models can materially improve buyer conversion and monetization. Strategically, Alibaba’s willingness to prioritize large-scale AI investment over near‑term margins signals an industry pivot: if these results scale through Singles Day and beyond, other platforms may follow with heavier ops and infrastructure investments to capture similar ML-driven efficiencies.