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🇭🇰SCMP Technology•Mar 18, 2026Stalecollected in 2m

Alibaba, Baidu Hike Cloud Prices 34% on AI Surge

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🇭🇰Read original on SCMP Technology

#cloud-pricing #ai-chips #china-cloudalibaba-cloudalibaba baidu alibaba-cloud t-head-zhengwu-810e

💡Alibaba/Baidu cloud prices up 34% for AI—audit your infra costs now before April 18 hikes.

⚡ 30-Second TL;DR

What Changed

Alibaba Cloud AI chip services prices up 5-34% from April 18

Why It Matters

Rising cloud prices may increase operational costs for AI projects on Alibaba and Baidu platforms, pushing users toward cost optimization or multi-cloud strategies. This signals broader infrastructure strain from AI growth in China.

What To Do Next

Audit your Alibaba Cloud AI workloads in the pricing calculator before April 18 to assess cost impacts.

Who should care:Developers & AI Engineers

Key Points

•Alibaba Cloud AI chip services prices up 5-34% from April 18
•Baidu cloud services also rising up to 34%
•Driven by AI demand surge and higher infrastructure costs
•Follows US peers like AWS amid AI boom
•T-Head Zhengwu 810E chip unveiled in late January

🧠 Deep Insight

Web-grounded analysis with 4 cited sources.

🔑 Enhanced Key Takeaways

•Alibaba Cloud's file storage product CPFS (AI computing edition) has increased by about 30%, alongside AI accelerator cards like T-Head Zhenwu 810E rising 5-34%.[1]
•Sharp rise in token usage on Alibaba Cloud Bailian platform, which saw fastest growth on record in Q1 2026, prompting reallocation of AI resources to token-based services.[1]
•China's cloud market shifted from 2024 price wars—where Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent offered large-model services nearly free—to 2026 focus on AI solutions and SaaS for enterprise retention.[2]
•China's AI public cloud market grew 55% YoY to 19.6 billion yuan in 2024, led by Baidu and Alibaba, with computer vision segment up 34% to 8.1 billion yuan.[4]

📊 Competitor Analysis▸ Show

Provider	Market Position (2024)	AI Cloud Growth	Pricing Shift
Alibaba	Leader	Dominant	Up to 34% hike (2026)[1]
Baidu	Leader	Dominant	Up to 34% hike (2026)[article]
Tencent	Strong in vision	AI sales 50x	From price war to AI packages[2]

🔮 Future ImplicationsAI analysis grounded in cited sources

Alibaba Cloud Intelligence revenue grows 10% beyond 2025 China AI cloud market size

Alibaba Cloud president projected capturing 80% of the 10% larger-than-2025 market increase in 2026 amid AI demand shift.[2]

China cloud competition focuses on enterprise AI SaaS over price cuts

Industry analysis notes unsustainable price wars led to churn, with narrowing model performance gaps driving on-site AI solutions.[2]

Alibaba AI product revenue sustains triple-digit growth into Q2 2026

Recent quarter showed triple-digit AI revenue growth offsetting e-commerce pressures, with cloud up 26% YoY.[3]

⏳ Timeline

2023-12

Rise of large language models marks AI cloud turning point

2024-01

Price war begins among Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent cloud large-model services

2024-12

Baidu and Alibaba dominate 55% growing AI public cloud market at 19.6B yuan

2026-01

T-Head Zhenwu 810E AI chip unveiled by Alibaba

2026-01

China cloud giants pivot from price wars to AI/SaaS strategies

📎 Sources (4)

Factual claims are grounded in the sources below. Forward-looking analysis is AI-generated interpretation.

📰 Event Coverage

虎嗅 • 3/18/2026

Aliyun & Baidu Hike AI Prices 30%+

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