Chinese tech giant Alibaba said on Monday it will invest more than 380 billion yuan (US$52.4 billion) on artificial intelligence and cloud computing over the next three years.

Investors have piled into Chinese technology stocks since the start of the year, with Alibaba – which runs some of the country's biggest online shopping platforms – seeing its shares soar to three-year highs.

The gains have been boosted since the Hangzhou-based firm announced robust sales growth last week.

Alibaba plans to "invest at least 380 billion yuan over the next three years to advance its cloud computing and AI infrastructure", a company statement said.

The firm said its strategy was aimed at "reinforcing (Alibaba's) commitment to long-term technological innovation... (and) underscores the company's focus on AI-driven growth".

The statement did not detail how the company would allocate the funds or what specific projects would be supported.

It did add that the investment would exceed its total AI and cloud spending over the past decade.

Alibaba last week reported an 8 percent bump in revenue for the three months through December, beating estimates to reach 280 billion yuan and triggering a 14 percent surge in its Hong Kong shares on Friday.

CEO Eddie Wu said last week that the quarterly results "demonstrated substantial progress in (Alibaba's) 'user-first, AI-driven' strategies and the re-accelerated growth of our core businesses". (AFP)