Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (NYSE:BABA) cloud unit has introduced its first "AI programmer" powered by the company's self-developed large language model (LLM).

Introduced by Alibaba Cloud, the AI programmer aims to help developers shorten development time for applications, sometimes reducing the process to mere minutes, the South China Morning Post reports.

Also Read: Apple’s AI Strategy Faces Hurdles In China, Talks With Local Firms Are Ongoing

Xu Dong, general manager of Alibaba Cloud's Tongyi Qianwen LLM service, at the company's Cloud AI summit in Shanghai, emphasized that in the future, users will only need to identify problems and express requirements, making it possible to complete application development in minutes.

Human programmers have expressed mixed feelings about the product. Liang Yan, a developer in the cryptocurrency industry, sees the AI programmer as a potential threat to jobs, noting that it might reduce opportunities for novice programmers and prevent them from fully understanding their work.

Yang Yi, a developer at a Chinese Big Tech company, mentioned that while these tools reduce workload, they are not entirely reliable, often generating code with grammatical or factual errors.

Recent reports indicated Alibaba fintech affiliate Ant Group investing $2.9 billion in AI research in 2023.

Alibaba stock has lost 14% in the last 12 months as domestic rivalry and a weak economy takes its toll. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF (NYSE:AVEM) and Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (NASDAQ:AIQ).

Alibaba’s Stock Prediction For 2024

When buying a stock for a longer time horizon, it is important for investors to assess where they think the stock is headed in the future.

When mapping a stock's future trajectory, investors should consider factors including the future earnings expectations and expected performance against a benchmark.

Alibaba 's revenue has grown at an average rate of 17.45% annually over the past 5 years. The average 1-year price target from analysts is $107.85, representing an expected 46.4% upside in 2025.

While past performance is not a guarantee of future results, investors should also look at a stock's historical performance when compared to both a benchmark index and the company's peers. Shares of Alibaba have seen an annualized return of -29.57%, underperforming the S&P500 index by 38.17%. This compares to 1.84% growth in the overall Consumer Discretionary sector. Alibaba Gr Hldgs has a beta of 2.34.

Price Action: BABA shares were trading higher by 0.03% at $73.69 premarket at the last check on Monday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo by Fooksou Lamimo via Wikimedia Commons