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Alibaba said it is working on a rival to ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot that has caused excitement across the world. Alibaba said its own product is currently undergoing internal testing.

Kuang Da | Visual China Group | Getty Images

Shares of Alibaba dropped after the Chinese giant’s net profit plunged in the fiscal fourth quarter ended in March.

Here’s how Alibaba did in the March quarter versus LSEG consensus estimates:

  • Revenue: 221.9 billion Chinese yuan ($30.7 billion) versus 219.66 billion yuan expected.

Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders came in at 3.3 billion yuan, down 86% year-on-year.

Shares of Alibaba were around 5% lower in premarket trading in the U.S.

Alibaba had a rocky year in 2023, when it carried out its largest-ever corporate structure overhaul. It also separately implemented several high-profile management changes, with company veteran Eddie Wu taking over the reins as chief executive in September.

in a bid to signal confidence to shareholders, the Chinese tech giant said earlier this year that it increased its share buyback program by $25 billion through the end of March 2027.

Alibaba has been grappling with cautious consumer spending in China, but saw signs of a slight recovery in its core e-commerce business in the March quarter.

The Hangzhou-headquartered company has been ramping up its overseas push amid a domestic slowdown, where Alibaba has faced rising competition from low-cost players like PDD.

Revenue for the Taobao and Tmall division, which houses Alibaba’s China e-commerce business, rose 4% year-on-year to 93.2 billion yuan. That was faster than the 2% growth in the previous quarter.

Customer management revenue — which are sales received from services such as marketing that Alibaba sells to merchants on its Taobao and Tmall e-commerce platforms — rose 5% year-on-year, after coming in flat in the previous quarter. Alibaba’s international commerce business also logged a revenue increase of 45% year-on-year to 27.4 billion yuan.

Earlier this year, CEO Wu vowed to “reignite” growth in the e-commerce firm with further investments. There appear to be early signs of that taking hold in the March quarter.

“This quarter’s results demonstrate that our strategies are working and we are returning to growth,” Wu said in the earnings release.

The profit drop casts a long shadow on the earnings. Alibaba said the reason for the fall is “primarily attributable to a net loss from our investments in publicly-traded companies during the quarter, compared to a net gain in the same quarter last year, due to the mark-to-market changes.”

Alibaba touts AI growth

Investors are laser focused on Alibaba’s cloud computing division, which has struggled to reignite growth. The company was planning to spin off the cloud unit, but scrapped plans for an initial public offering last year.

Alibaba said its cloud computing unit brought it a revenue of 25.6 billion yuan, up just 3% year-on-year and marking the same growth rate seen in the previous quarter. 

The Chinese giant said it is in the process of reducing “low-margin project-based” contracts in its cloud division and expects AI-related products and public cloud, which relates to enterprise customers, to “offset the impact of the roll-off of project-based revenues.”

During the March quarter, AI-related revenue experienced “triple-digit growth year-over-year.”

“AI-related revenue was generated from various sectors including foundational model companies, internet companies, as well as customers from industries such as financial services and automotive,” Alibaba said.

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Tech, semiconductor stocks bounce on tariff optimism, Nvidia jumps 7%

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Tech, semiconductor stocks bounce on tariff optimism, Nvidia jumps 7%

Technology stocks bounced Tuesday after three rocky trading sessions, spurred by rising optimism that President Donald Trump could potentially negotiate tariff deals with world leaders.

Nvidia led the Magnificent Seven group’s gains, rallying about 7%. Meta Platforms, Amazon, Tesla, Apple and Microsoft jumped at least 4% each. Alphabet rose about 3%.

The sector is coming off a wild trading session after speculation that the White House could potentially delay tariffs fueled volatile swings. Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Nvidia finished higher, while Apple, Microsoft and Tesla posted losses.

Trump’s wide-sweeping tariff plans have sparked violent turbulence over the last three trading sessions. Trading volume on Monday hit its highest in nearly two decades. Technology stocks gyrated after the Nasdaq Composite posted its worst week in five years and the Magnificent Seven group lost $1.8 trillion in market value over two trading sessions.

Semiconductor stocks also rebounded Tuesday, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF jumping more than 5% to build on a more than 2% gain from the previous session. Advanced Micro Devices, Lam Research and Micron Technology jumped about 6%.

Chipmakers were excluded from the recent tariffs, but have come under pressure on worries that higher duties could diminish demand for products they are used in and slow the economy. The sector is also expected to see tariffs further down the road.

Elsewhere, Broadcom surged 9% after announcing a $10 billion share buyback plan through the end of the year. Marvell Technology also bounced more than 9% after agreeing to sell its auto ethernet business for $2.5 billion in cash to Infineon Technologies.

WATCH: Tariff volatility erases majority of AI stock gains

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Digital health startup Transcarent takes Accolade private in $621 million deal

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Digital health startup Transcarent takes Accolade private in 1 million deal

Glen Tullman, chairman and chief executive officer at Livongo Health Inc., speaks during the 2015 Bloomberg Technology Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, June 16, 2015.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Digital health startup Transcarent on Tuesday announced it completed its acquisition of Accolade in a deal valued at roughly $621 million. 

Transcarent first announced the acquisition in January, and the company said it has received all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals to carry out the transaction. Accolade shareholders received $7.03 per share in cash, and its common stock will no longer trade on the Nasdaq, according to a release.

“Adding Accolade’s people and capabilities will significantly enhance our existing offerings,” Transcarent CEO Glen Tullman said in a statement. “We’re creating an entirely new way to experience health and care. We are truly better together.” 

Transcarent offers at-risk pricing models to self-insured employers to help their workers quickly access care and navigate benefits. As of May, the company had raised around $450 million at a valuation of $2.2 billion. Transcarent also earned a spot on CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list last year.

More CNBC health coverage

Accolade offers care delivery, navigation and advocacy services. The company went public during the Covid pandemic in 2020 as investors began pouring billions of dollars into digital health, but the stock tumbled in the years following.

Accolade is the latest in a string of digital health companies to exit the public markets as the sector struggles to adjust to a more muted growth environment. 

Transcarent said the executive leadership team will report to Tullman and includes representatives from both organizations. Accolade’s Kristen Bruzek will serve as executive vice president of care delivery operations, for instance.  

Tullman is no stranger to overseeing major deals in digital health. He previously helmed Livongo, which was acquired by the virtual-care provider Teladoc in a 2020 agreement that valued the company at $18.5 billion.

General Catalyst and Tullman’s 62 Ventures led the acquisition’s financing, with additional participation from new and existing investors, the release said. The companies also leveraged cash from their combined balance sheet, and JP Morgan led the debt financing.

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Drone delivery startup Zipline expands to Texas with Walmart partnership

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Drone delivery startup Zipline expands to Texas with Walmart partnership

A drone operator loads a Walmart package into Zipline’s P1 fixed-wing drone for delivery to a customer home in Pea Ridge, Arkansas, on March 30, 2023.

Bunee Tomlinson

Zipline, a startup that delivers everything from vaccines to ice cream via electric autonomous drones, expanded its service to the Dallas area on Tuesday through a partnership with Walmart.

In Mesquite, Texas, about 15 miles east of Dallas, Walmart customers can sign up to receive orders within 30 minutes, delivered on Zipline’s newest unmanned aerial vehicles, known as P2 Zips.

The drones are capable of carrying up to eight pounds worth of cargo within a 10-mile radius, and can land a package on a space as small as a table or doorstep. The company, which ranked 21st on CNBC’s 2024 Disruptor 50 list, plans to expand soon in the Dallas metropolitan area.

Zipline CEO and co-founder Keller Rinaudo Cliffton said P2 Zips have “dinner plate-level” accuracy. They employ lift and cruise propellers and feature a fixed wing that helps them maneuver quietly, even through rain or gusts of wind up to 45 miles per hour.

In the delivery process, a P2 Zip will hover around 300 feet above ground level and dispatch a mini-aircraft with a container called the delivery zip, which descends on a long tether and moves into place using fan-like thrusters before setting down and allowing package retrieval.

Both the P2 Zip and the delivery zip use cameras, other sensors and Nvidia chips to determine what’s happening in the environment around them, and to avoid obstacles while making a delivery.

In March 2025, Zipline announced that its drones have logged more than 100 million autonomous miles of flight to-date, a number equivalent to flying more than 4,000 loops around the planet, or 200 lunar round trips, the company said in a video to mark the milestone.

Since it began operations in 2016, Rinaudo Cliffton said, Zipline has completed around 1.5 million deliveries, far more than competitors in the West. Wing, a Zipline rival focused on residential deliveries, has reported more than 450,000 deliveries since 2012.

Zipline initially focused on logistics in health care, making deliveries by drone to clinics and hospitals in nations where infrastructure sometimes impeded timely access to life-saving medicines, blood, vaccines and personal protective equipment. The company, valued at $4.2 billion in a 2023 financing round, is now making deliveries in Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Japan and the U.S., and expanded well beyond hospitals and clinics.

In addition to Walmart, customers include Sweetgreen, Chipotle and other quick-serve restaurants, as well as health clinics and hospital systems such as Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic.

Zipline’s launch in Mesquite comes days after President Donald Trump’s announcement of widespread tariffs roiled markets on concern that companies would face rising costs and a slowdown in consumers spending. Rinaudo Cliffton said he doesn’t anticipate massive impediments to Zipline’s business, as its drones are built in the U.S., with manufacturing and testing in South San Francisco.

WATCH: Zipline releases drone for rapid home delivery

Zipline releases new drone designed for rapid home deliveries

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