Alibaba has initiated an update of its AI chatbot, aligning its efforts with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, marking a new competition against the influential tech companies in Silicon Valley led by the Chinese e-commerce leader founded by Jack Ma.
The newly introduced chatbot application, Qwen, which is a refreshed and rebranded version of the earlier Tongyi, has been accessible on both Android and Apple app platforms since Friday.
The enterprise based in Hangzhou described its newest update as “the most potent official AI assistant for its models” and “the primary entry point for evaluating the latest and most advanced Qwen model.”
Over the past two years, Alibaba has been encouraging the use and commercialization of the Qwen series of AI models in response to the global excitement stirred by OpenAI. Rising to prominence as one of China’s foremost AI developers, alongside emerging firms like DeepSeek and Moonshot AI, Alibaba has intensified its commitment to an open-source model, allowing third-party developers to utilize, modify, and distribute its models. In the quarter that concluded in June, Alibaba’s earnings from AI-related offerings sustained a year-over-year growth in the triple digits for the eighth consecutive quarter.