Jack Ma Says Nations Need Tech to Sidestep U.S. Grip

Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma argues that nations from Japan to China need to develop their own semiconductor technology to get around America’s grip on the global chip market.

The billionaire executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., explaining the e-commerce titan’s growing interest in chips including this month’s acquisition of local design-house Hangzhou C-Sky Microsystems Co., said he’s motivated in part by a desire to make chips “inclusive:” cheap, efficient and available to all. He said his company has invested in five semiconductor firms in the past four years.