Reference News Network, March 21 report: According to the website of the U.S. "Wall Street Journal" on March 18, Chinese tech giants are raising the prices of artificial intelligence (AI) services, marking a turning point in the industry's monetization competition.
E-commerce giant Alibaba and search engine giant Baidu became the latest companies to announce price increases for AI products on the 18th. This move accelerated the emerging reversal trend: previously, the industry was characterized by ruthless price competition.
The cloud business department of Alibaba said it plans to increase the prices of AI computing cards such as Tuhu Zhenwu 810E by 5% to 34%, and the prices of its storage products will rise by 30%.
In a statement, Alibaba cited the surge in global AI demand and rising supply chain costs as the main reasons for the price adjustment, and the new prices will take effect on April 18.
At the same time, Baidu said it also plans to increase the prices of its AI computing products by up to 30% starting April 18.
These measures contrast sharply with the situation at the beginning of 2024, when Alibaba cut the prices of cloud computing products by up to 55%, quickly prompting competitors like JD.com to respond with similar price cuts.
Last week, Shenzhen-based tech giant Tencent also announced an increase in the price of its flagship Yuan model.
This wave of price hikes can be seen as an initial positive signal of companies' efforts to monetize AI-related services. Many large enterprises have been struggling to make AI a major revenue source, but at the cost of expanding R&D budgets.
Original: toutiao.com/article/7619626044714205711/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.