Alibaba slashes cloud prices globally as AI demand quickens

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is cutting prices for cloud customers from the US to Singapore by as much as 59%, mirroring deep discounts at home as the once high-flying division struggles to fend off rivals and revive growth.

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The move coincides with a surge in demand for cloud computing to support a global boom in AI development, as well as a complicated internal restructuring. Chief executive officer Eddie Wu is spearheading a far-reaching overhaul to try and revitalize Alibaba's main businesses including e-commerce.

Alibaba cancelled plans for a public listing of the cloud business in November, citing difficulties getting the high-end Nvidia Corp. chips it needs to compete, and has faced rising competition from Tencent Holdings Ltd and state-backed providers.

The Hangzhou-based firm slashed prices on Monday by an average of 23% for around 500 cloud product specifications.

Those discounts are now available to customers in 13 regions, including Japan, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Germany.