China's Alibaba Group seeks $1 billion in long-awaited IPO

Young men walk past the corporate logo at the headquarters compound of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou in eastern China's Zhejiang province in this May 21, 2012 file photo. (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO -- China's Alibaba Group is aiming to raise $1 billion in a long-awaited IPO likely to have ripple effects across the Internet.

Tuesday's filing sets the stage for the technology industry's biggest initial public offering since short messaging service Twitter and its early investors collected $1.8 billion in its stock market debut last fall.

For now, Alibaba isn't specifying how much stock will be sold in the IPO or setting a price range. Those details will emerge as the IPO progresses, a process likely to take three to four months to complete before Alibaba's shares begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Although it's not nearly as well-known as Facebook Inc., Alibaba has emerged as an e-commerce powerhouse that makes more money than Amazon.com Inc. and eBay Inc. combined.