Venture capital firm Antler and the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund also participated in the round, according to a report in the South China Morning Post, which said the deal marks the single largest amount raised by a Chinese AI video generation firm.

AIsphere was launched in April 2023 by ex-Microsoft and ByteDance executive Wang Changhu. Its PixVerse tool, which the company claims has over 100 million users globally, lets users generate videos seamlessly from text prompts, images, and existing clips.

PixVerse's "Venom effect" video template went viral on TikTok late last year, according to the SCMP report. AIsphere has previously raised $55 million, with investors including Ant Group.

The deal underscores Alibaba's growing play in advanced technology areas. The company recently led a $100 million investment round in X Square Robot, a Chinese startup that develops and sells AI systems enabling robots to understand instructions and perform tasks autonomously.

Alibaba is also an investor in AIsphere competitor MiniMax.

Alibaba stock is on a strong run, with its Hong Kong shares hitting a four-year high this week. The company's U.S.-listed shares have also climbed sharply, and are up 71% year-to-date.

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for BABA was 'neutral' as of the last reading.

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