Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s stock (09988.HK) surged 5.10% in intraday trading on Thursday, following reports that the Chinese e-commerce giant is planning a major overhaul of its artificial intelligence applications. The company aims to bring its AI capabilities closer to those of OpenAI's ChatGPT, signaling a strong push into the competitive AI market.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Alibaba plans to rename its existing "Tongyi" mobile AI applications to "Quwen" and gradually integrate AI functionality across multiple platforms, including its main Taobao e-commerce site. The company has reportedly dedicated over 100 developers to this makeover, which is part of the additional AI investments teased by CEO Eddie Wu in September.

The revamp is seen as a strategic move to monetize consumer-facing AI services and compete with rivals in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Alibaba's focus on incorporating shopping features into its AI applications could leverage its e-commerce strengths to attract users. The company also plans to eventually expand globally with an overseas version of its AI app, potentially opening up new revenue streams.

Investors appear to be responding positively to Alibaba's aggressive AI strategy, viewing it as a potential catalyst for growth in an increasingly competitive market. The company's recent financial results, which showed triple-digit growth in AI-related products and better-than-expected cloud business sales, further support the market's optimism about Alibaba's AI initiatives.