Alibaba Empowers Africa's First Youth Olympic Games with AI and Cloud Technology
Alibaba Group, in partnership with the International Olympic Committee and the Dakar 2026 Organizing Committee, is providing cloud computing and artificial intelligence technologies to support the Summer Youth Olympic Games held in Senegal from October 31 to November 13, 2026. As a Worldwide Olympic TOP Partner, Alibaba is deploying a private cloud infrastructure based on its Apsara Stack to manage digital operations, including ticketing and e-visa processing for over one million tickets across seven venues and the official Festival Site. This scalable and secure cloud platform will be handed over to the Senegalese government after the Games to support the country’s long-term digital transformation.
Alibaba’s AI technologies are highlighted by an AI-generated drum performance at the opening ceremony, created using its WAN video generation model. Interactive fan engagement features include kiosks allowing visitors to create videos of themselves playing the Senegalese Sabar Drum and an AI agent answering questions about the Games.
Beyond technology infrastructure, Alibaba has expanded its philanthropic Panda Pack Project to Senegal, providing sports equipment to local youth programs, and launched free online cloud computing training for Senegalese youth under 35 through its Alibaba Cloud Tech Academy.
This initiative marks the first Olympic event hosted on African soil and aims to deliver smooth operations, deepen fan engagement, and leave a lasting digital legacy for Senegal. Alibaba’s involvement builds on its experience supporting previous Olympic Games including Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022.
Source: The Tanzania Times.