Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is investing US$15 billion to establish overseas research hubs to work on artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and fintech, according to a report by BNN. The Alibaba'Damo' academy will comprise of eight research bases in China, Israel, the United States, Russia and Singapore, for which the company will hire 100 researchers. "The Alibaba DAMO Academy will be at the forefront of developing next-generation technology that will spur the growth of Alibaba and our partners," Jeff Zhang, chief technology officer of Alibaba, said. The company and its affiliates have experienced a rapid expansion in the past year, putting it in direct competition with heavyweight e-tailer Amazon.com, as well as global payments, cloud and logistics companies. Since 2016, Alibaba has invested approximately US$2 billion to acquire a majority stake in Singapore-based retailer Lazada.com,