Alibaba to sell gaming unit for $1.5 billion in strategic shift to artificial intelligence
Proactive
Mon, 17 August 2026 at 12:35 pm GMT+5:30
1 min read
- BABA
+1.35%
Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA), the Chinese e-commerce group, has agreed to sell its video game division to Trustar Capital, the Asian private equity firm, in a transaction that Bloomberg News reported may value the unit at more than $1.5 billion
The divestment of Lingxi Games is part of a broader corporate reorganisation led by Eddie Wu, the chief executive, who is shedding non-core assets to focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing
Zhou Bingshu, the head of the gaming studio, described the move in an internal memorandum distributed to staff on Monday and reviewed by Bloomberg News
The executive explained that the parent company is handing Lingxi to Trustar to better focus on its strategic priorities, although he did not disclose the exact size of the deal
This corporate shift follows the recent launch of the largest AI model ever produced by the technology conglomerate
The company claims its new system offers performance comparable to the latest breakthroughs from Anthropic PBC, the US developer, as Chinese firms attempt to challenge their Western competitors
Management has set an ambitious internal target of reaching $100 billion in AI revenue within the next five years
Lingxi Games is best known for Three Kingdoms: Strategy Edition, a massive multiplayer online strategy title developed in partnership with Koei Tecmo Holdings Co., the Japanese publisher
Representatives for both the seller and the prospective private equity buyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the transaction
