Alibaba’s profit dives 75% after amping up AI spending, shares fell 3%

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s profit plunged more than 75% after China’s e-commerce leader ratcheted up AI spending while grappling with a broad Chinese consumption slowdown. Alibaba’s US-listed shares fell 4% in premarket trading on Thursday before trimming some of the losses, with the stock last down 3.1%.

The online retail giant-turned-AI lab reported a 9% jump in revenue, in line with estimates and reflecting torrid growth in demand for the computing capacity its cloud division provides.