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Alibaba Unveils Zhenwu V900 AI Chip, Claiming Triple Predecessor's Speed
Alibaba unveiled the Zhenwu V900 AI accelerator at its September 22 developer conference, saying it delivers roughly three times the performance of its predecessor and is scheduled for mass production in early 2027. The company also discussed future Qwen models scaling to 5 trillion to 10 trillion parameters and plans to expand global data-center capacity above 20 gigawatts by 2032. Alibaba can run the homegrown chip across its own cloud, models and internal applications, giving it captive demand before broad sales, though the performance claims come from Alibaba itself and mass production is still expected in 2027. For Nvidia, the concern is structural rather than immediate: export restrictions already limit its ability to serve China's highest-end demand, and each generation of domestic hardware that narrows the gap makes it harder for Nvidia to reclaim its old China position if policy changes. Insider Monkey's database showed 97 hedge funds with reportable Alibaba longs in Q2 2026, down from 102 in Q1, while Nvidia had 285 hedge-fund holders, up from 275; Alibaba short interest was about 41.98 million shares as of August 14, roughly 2.0% of public float with around 4.6 days to cover.
OpenAI Seeks $1.2 Trillion Valuation in New Funding Round
OpenAI, the AI partner of Microsoft, is reportedly seeking a valuation above US$1.2 trillion in a new funding round. The AI group is forecast to burn roughly US$278 billion in cash as it scales infrastructure and product development with Microsoft support. The prospective deal would reinforce OpenAI's role inside Microsoft's broader AI ecosystem, spanning Azure infrastructure and Copilot branded services. The funding push backs the view that rich AI workloads can keep Azure traffic and Copilot adoption growing, while also sharpening questions about capital intensity and dependency on a few large AI partners.
Microsoft Raises Quarterly Dividend 8% to $0.98 Per Share
Microsoft's board approved an 8% increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, payable December 10, extending a streak of annual dividend increases that now spans more than 20 years. The payout has climbed from $1.56 a share in 2017 to $3.64 for fiscal 2026, supported by cash from operations that rose $46.8 billion to $182.9 billion for fiscal year 2026. Azure and other cloud services grew 43% in the fourth quarter, but the company's aggressive spending on artificial intelligence and data-center infrastructure is pressuring free cash flow and cloud margins, a risk that could slow future dividend increases and buybacks if AI monetization lags. Hedge fund holders of the stock fell to 273 in the second quarter from 282 in the first, though Arrowstreet Capital raised its stake 14% to $10.31 billion and Fisher Asset Management lifted its position 3% to $9.92 billion, while short interest eased to 74.45 million shares as of August 31 from 81.31 million on July 31.