Alibaba Cloud and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced a multiyear collaboration. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing unit of Alibaba Group, and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced a multiyear collaboration on Thursday, with the Chinese tech heavyweight becoming the official cloud computing and artificial intelligence partner of NBA China.

With its Qwen large language models and cloud infrastructure, Alibaba Cloud will provide Chinese NBA fans with live game viewing and interactive engagement experiences.

NBA China will utilize Alibaba Cloud's AI and cloud computing services to support a wide range of digital fan engagement initiatives, including the development of a proprietary AI model for NBA China based on Alibaba's Qwen series of foundational models.

Alibaba Cloud will debut a real-time 360 replay solution at the NBA China Games 2025, offering fans AI-powered visual enhancements to replay highlights. Powered by Alibaba's AI algorithms, the system tracks player movements and generates a visual presentation of high-quality frames to highlight key plays through a spherical view.

"AI and cloud technologies are enablers of connection — between player and fan, brand and consumer, global vision and local culture," Joe Tsai, chairman of Alibaba Group, said. "By collaborating with NBA China and introducing Alibaba's latest innovations, we are here to excite NBA fans through the enablement of exceptional experiences that they've never seen before."

"Our collaboration with Alibaba Cloud reflects our commitment to using the latest technology to engage the hundreds of millions of NBA fans in China in new and creative ways," Mark Tatum, NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer, said. "We look forward to working with Alibaba Cloud to transform how fans across the country watch and experience the game in the years to come."

As part of the multiyear collaboration, NBA China will also utilize Alibaba Cloud's infrastructure to host its digital platforms, including the NBA App, the league's official website in China and NBA China mini-programs. NBA China will also use Alibaba Cloud's intelligent analytical tools to generate data-driven insights to enhance its fan engagement efforts.