Newsletters
Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of China-based Alibaba Group, plans to launch a data center cluster in Türkiye within the next 12 months, establishing its first cloud region in the country following major investments by U.S. rivals.
Li Feifei, Alibaba Cloud’s chief technology officer and president of international business, outlined the plans at the Apsara Conference in Hangzhou on Wednesday, saying the company is broadening its global cloud network to bring services closer to customers and business partners.
Alibaba Cloud is also preparing to open new cloud regions in Finland and the Netherlands within the same 12-month period, with its first data center in the Netherlands scheduled to open in October. It is meanwhile increasing capacity at existing facilities in Malaysia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, France and Hong Kong.
Alibaba's move comes as Türkiye attracts a growing pipeline of cloud, data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure projects from global technology companies.
U.S. tech giant Google and Türkiye's state-run telecom operator Turkcell announced in November 2025 that they would jointly invest $3 billion to establish Türkiye's first hyperscale regional data center.
Google committed $2 billion over 10 years, while Turkcell plans to invest $1 billion. Once operational, the facility is expected to become one of Google Cloud's 42 hyperscale regions, offering services including AI, data storage and cybersecurity from Türkiye.
Amazon, another U.S. tech giant, also expanded its footprint in Türkiye with the launch of an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Local Zone in Istanbul in May 2026, bringing computing, storage and networking capabilities closer to customers in the country.
The government is also backing digital infrastructure, with Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir announcing $3 billion in public funding in June to mobilize $10 billion in private-sector investment for data centers and AI technologies.
Türkiye's 2026-2030 AI Action Plan targets at least 1 gigawatt of data center capacity by 2030, alongside at least $10 billion in predominantly private investment for AI infrastructure.
Alibaba Cloud is ramping up its infrastructure as artificial intelligence shifts from experimental applications toward wider business use, driving demand for scalable systems and closer collaboration.
The company plans to offer international customers "full-stack AI" services covering chips, cloud infrastructure and multimodal AI models.
It currently operates 107 availability zones across 31 regions and ranks fourth in the global infrastructure services market by 2025 revenue, behind Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Its share of the Asia-Pacific market stands at 22.5%.
As part of its broader AI strategy, Alibaba has pledged more than $53 billion in investment over three years to integrate AI capabilities into its traditional e-commerce operations. It also targets more than 20 gigawatts of global data center capacity by 2032.
Revenue from AI and cloud computing services climbed 45% year on year to 48.4 billion yuan ($7.2 billion), in the three months ended June 30.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
