L.A. Olympics 2028 partnering with Alibaba, which Pentagon says is ‘Chinese Military Company’

One of the major worldwide partners for the highly-anticipated Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 is the Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba — which the Pentagon just labeled a “Chinese Military Company” serving the military-civil fusion efforts of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Pentagon announced Monday that Alibaba had been added to the list of “entities identified as Chinese Military Companies.” The Department of War noted that “the Deputy Secretary of Defense has determined that the following entities qualify for designation as Chinese military companies” and included Alibaba among the new additions to the blacklist.

Alibaba, founded by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, is a massive and lucrative Chinese multinational company focused on e-commerce and technology.

“Top Olympic Partner”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has touted Alibaba as “Top Olympic Partner” of the Games since 2017, and the website for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games (LA28) also lists Alibaba as a key “Worldwide Partner” in the e-commerce arena for the upcoming Summer Olympics. Following pressure from China hawks in the House, LA28 did announce that Google — rather than Alibaba — would be handling many of the web search and cloud services for the Olympics, although Alibaba is still listed as a key e-commerce partner for the Games in the U.S.

Alibaba’s relationship with the Olympics has long been scrutinized. LA28, the IOC, and Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment.

The Pentagon’s justification for adding Alibaba to the Chinese military company list noted that the Chinese tech giant is “indirectly affiliated” with the Chinese government’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). The War Department also said that Alibaba is “a military-civil fusion contributor to the Chinese defense industrial base” because it is affiliated with the Chinese government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

"A warning to American businesses": Moolenaar

Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, had sent a letter last year with other congressional members to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to “express serious concern about the International Olympic Committee’s ongoing partnership with Alibaba Group and the implications of allowing a People’s Republic of China-based cloud provider to support the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.”

Moolenaar said Monday that “this updated list of Chinese military companies is a warning to American businesses, all levels of government, and the American people” and that “American companies must stop doing business with these threats to our national security, otherwise they are enabling China’s military ascendance.”

The Chinese government website for SASAC — with which the Pentagon said Alibaba is affiliated — notes that SASAC is “an institution directly under the management of the ​State Council” and that “the Party Committee of SASAC performs the responsibilities mandated by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.”

The House CCP Committee has said that SASAC “is a special government commission within the PRC that reports directly to the State Council, the nation’s chief administrative authority and equivalent to the national cabinet” and that it “oversees the 96 state-owned enterprises deemed most vital to the nation’s economic and geopolitical strategy.”

China’s government website for the MIIT — with which the War Department said Alibaba is also affiliated — shows that MIIT’s listed “Department Leaders” appear to be almost exclusively CCP officials. The “responsibilities” of the MITT include guidelines and directives from the Chinese State Council and the CCP Central Committee.

China's military-civil fusion strategy

The House CCP Committee has assessed that the MIIT is “key to the PRC’s military-civil fusion strategy.” This China-focused congressional committee has also noted that China’s State Administration for Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense is the Chinese government’s “principal civilian authority overseeing national defense science, technology, and industrial activities” and that it also operates under the MIIT.

The LA28 website’s section on “Our Partners” lists Alibaba as among one of just a dozen “Worldwide Partners” for the upcoming Games hosted by the U.S. in 2028.

“Alibaba Group’s mission, since their founding in 1999, has always been to make it easy to do business anywhere. Through its innovative tools and digital solutions, Alibaba’s marketplace enables businesses of all sizes to reach consumers from around the world. Its long-term strategic goal is to serve two billion consumers and support 10 million small businesses globally,” LA28 says.

The Los Angeles Olympics website also says that “since becoming a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner in 2017, particularly since Tokyo 2020, Alibaba’s E-Commerce Platforms have been instrumental in driving the digital transformation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games” and that “through the partnership, Alibaba's goal is to generate better efficiency in the Olympic and Paralympic broadcasting industry, create more meaningful online engagement for sports fans, improve sustainability, ensure inclusiveness, and enhance the Olympic and Paralympic experience for everyone.”

Alibaba has been the subject of a power grab by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ma largely disappeared from public view for a number of years, and his plans to take the company public were shelved after he gave a speech in Shanghai in October 2020 that criticized China’s financial regulators. Xi reportedly personally intervened to stop the company’s initial public offering after Ma’s speech enraged Chinese leaders.

Ma reemerged with a public appearance in February 2025 for a business leader meeting with Xi Jinping.

The IOC announced at the World Economic Forum in 2017 that it was entering into a “long-term partnership” with Alibaba through 2028, with Alibaba joining The Olympic Partner sponsorship program and becoming the official cloud services and e-commerce platform partner for the IOC, as well as a founding partner of the Olympic Channel. Alibaba was the first Chinese company to commit to the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

"This is a ground-breaking, innovative alliance, and will help drive efficiencies in the organisation of the Olympic Games through 2028," IOC President Thomas Bach said in January 2017 in a press conference with Ma.

"This is an historic strategic partnership in the digital world,” Bach added. “It will transform the global Olympic movement." Bach said in 2019 that “Jack is always giving me good advice and leading me in the right direction when it comes to the great potential this digital world is offering for us.”

Olympic Broadcasting Services and Alibaba Cloud soon announced the launch of the OBS Cloud in 2018. Alibaba was also named the ticketing systems and services provider by the IOC in 2019.

The IOC’s “Partners” webpage says that “Alibaba is supporting the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020+5 through its innovative cloud and e-commerce technologies.”

Alibaba is listed in the “Exclusive Worldwide” section of “The Olympic Partner” for categories including cloud infrastructure, cloud services, ticketing, and e-commerce platform services.

“Since becoming a Worldwide Olympic Partner in 2017, Alibaba has committed to helping the IOC transform the Olympic Games for the digital era,” the IOC says of the company now blacklisted as a Chinese military company.

The Alibaba Cloud website also has an entire webpage touting the company’s partnership with the Olympics.

Moolenaar, along with the ranking member of the House CCP committee and the chairman and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, sent a September 2025 letter warning about the problems posed by the partnership between Alibaba and LA28.

“Alibaba serves as a critical enabler of the CCP’s digital surveillance and censorship apparatus. The company appears to have partnered with Chinese military firms on surveillance and weapons development, helped process data for PRC intelligence agencies, and established a CCP party committee within the company,” the House committee leaders wrote.

The letter continued: “Given that the 2028 Olympics will be held in the United States, it is imperative that Alibaba not receive any access to a major U.S. city’s infrastructure and security information, which would create unacceptable exposure to espionage, data exploitation, and foreign influence operations at a globally significant event.”

LA28 soon announced in October 2025 that it was bringing on Google as a partner to provide some of the services which Alibaba had been slated to be in charge of.

Google joins the club

“We’ve got a new Founding Partner at LA28: Google! Today we’re proud to announce that Google Search and Cloud, as well as products and services like Gemini will support the LA28 Games. Google will deliver consumer and enterprise solutions designed to enhance the Games-time experience,” the Los Angeles Olympics said.

The LA28 press release said that “by integrating Google technologies across Google Search, Google Cloud and more — including advanced AI tools like Gemini — this partnership will seamlessly connect fans, staff, and athletes to the LA28 Games.”

“Through Google Search, Gemini and Google Cloud, Google is bringing cutting-edge AI technology to the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and supporting Team USA with advanced tools and transforming how fans in the US discover information during NBCUniversal’s coverage,” LA28 added.

The House CCP Committee responded to this news last year by saying that it was “encouraged to see LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games partner with Google — rather than Alibaba — for the 2028 Olympics” and called this “a smart step to protect U.S. infrastructure and keep the Games free from CCP-linked influence.”

Moolenaar himself said that “companies tied to the Chinese Communist Party should never be allowed to access the data of American cities, infrastructure, or people” and that “as a major sponsor of the IOC, Alibaba could have had access to all three.”

“I commend the LA28 team for choosing a U.S. company and barring Alibaba for the 2028 Olympics,” he added.

Despite bringing in Google as a partner, LA28’s website for the upcoming Summer Olympics makes it clear that Alibaba will still be playing a significant role with the Games.

Links to the Chinese military

The Internet Protocol Video Market reported in late 2020 that “Alibaba, the NYSE-listed 'Amazon of China' with a $700 billion+ market cap, openly offers Uyghur/'ethnic minority' recognition as a Cloud service, allowing customers to be alerted any time Alibaba detects a Uyghur.”

The New York Times also reported at the time that “as the Chinese government tracked and persecuted members of predominantly Muslim minority groups, the technology giant Alibaba taught its corporate customers how they could play a part.” 

The Center for a New American Security think tank noted in 2021 that Alibaba’s AliCloud “has apparently supported data centers intended to promote military-civil fusion initiatives, and an Alibaba vice president participated in a conference on military big data organized through the Academy of Military Science.”

Marco Rubio, then a Republican senator from Florida and now the Secretary of State, joined eight other Republican senators in 2023 in sending a letter to the Treasury, Commerce, and State Departments warning about Alibaba’s links to the People’s Liberation Army. The GOP letter said that “Alibaba Cloud is widely known to provide services to the PRC military, security, and intelligence services.”

Moolenaar and other members of the House and Senate had also sent a May 2025 letter to the SEC chairman arguing that “Alibaba is a Chinese technology conglomerate designated by the Chinese government to lead national AI development and deeply embedded in China’s military and surveillance systems.”

The Financial Times also reported in November 2025 that “according to [a] White House memo, Alibaba also provides the Chinese government and PLA with access to customer data that includes IP addresses, WiFi information, and payment records, as well as different AI-related services” and that the memo also said Alibaba employees “had transferred knowledge about ‘zero-day’ exploits to the PLA — previously unknown software vulnerabilities that developers had no opportunity to patch.”

“The Select Committee has said for years that a Chinese company anywhere in the world is subject to Chinese law, and this is what we mean,” the House CCP Committee said in response to the article. “Alibaba has no choice but to give up sensitive data on its customers and provide cybersecurity vulnerabilities to the CCP or it will face serious consequences, just like Jack Ma did. The federal government and industry must take steps to protect the American people and eliminate Chinese companies’ access to our markets and innovation.”

“There is no basis to conclude that Alibaba should be placed on the Section 1260H List,” Alibaba said in a Monday statement provided to multiple outlets as the company pushed back against its addition to the Pentagon blacklist. “Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy. We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company.”