Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding saw profit surge 239 per cent cent in the December quarter to beat analysts' estimates, as the company's cloud computing services unit posted strong growth.

Chief executive Eddie Wu said AI was "the kind of opportunity for industry transformation that only comes around only once every few decades."

Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped 14.56 percent on Friday following better-than-expected quarterly earnings and a commitment from management to make

Alibaba's shares surged as much as 13% in Hong Kong on Friday , after it reported third-quarter revenues just above analysts' estimates and said it plans to invest more in e-commerce and AI. Julian Satterthwaite reports.