Alibaba Unveils Zhenwu M890 Chip and Next-Gen LLM

CNBC reported Tuesday that Alibaba has unveiled its latest AI chip, the Zhenwu M890, claiming the processor delivers three times the performance of its current-generation model. The announcement came as rival Nvidia continues to face restrictions on exporting its most advanced chips to China.

Zhenwu M890 Chip Raises the Bar

The Zhenwu M890 chip represents a significant hardware leap for Alibaba. The company said the processor carries 144 GB of GPU memory and supports interchip bandwidth of 800 GB per second. Both figures mark a substantial step up from the existing Zhenwu 810E. Alibaba made the announcement at an event in Chongqing, China.

The company also disclosed it has already shipped 560,000 Zhenwu units. Those processors have reached more than 400 customers spanning 20 different industries. That deployment scale suggests Alibaba’s in-house silicon is gaining meaningful commercial traction beyond its own cloud infrastructure.

Also Read: Nvidia Faces New Export Limits as US Tightens AI Chip Rules

A New Large Language Model on the Way

Beyond hardware, Alibaba signaled a software push as well. The company said its next-generation large language model, Qwen3.7-Max, is set for imminent release. The Qwen series has become one of China’s most closely watched open-source model families. A more capable iteration would put added pressure on domestic and international competitors in the fast-moving AI model race.

China’s Push for Homegrown AI Infrastructure

Alibaba’s chip ambitions sit inside a broader national effort to reduce dependence on foreign semiconductors. In early April, Alibaba and China Telecom jointly announced a new data center in southern China built around Alibaba’s proprietary chip technology. That facility is part of a larger government-backed drive to develop domestic AI infrastructure capable of operating independently of US-made hardware.

The strategic backdrop matters. Washington’s export controls have progressively limited Chinese companies’ access to Nvidia’s top-tier GPUs. That pressure has accelerated investment in homegrown alternatives, and Alibaba appears to be one of the primary beneficiaries of that shift. With the M890 now disclosed and a new LLM approaching launch, the company is positioning itself as a full-stack AI provider for Chinese enterprise customers.

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