Alibaba launches new version of AI assistant tool as competition heats up

Last updated: March 13, 2025 11:20 am

By MT HANNACH

3 Min Read

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The Alibaba logo is displayed on an iPad screen.

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Alibaba Group launched a new version of its application as an artificial intelligence assistant on Thursday which will be fueled by its own flagship Qwen AI reasoning model, in the middle of a heated world race to produce new generation technologies.

The launch is the last effort of the company to gain an advantage in the middle of the growing competition on the front of the application of the AI, has further intensified by the emergence of the successful R1 model of Deepseek earlier this year.

Until now, Quark, which has been launched in 2016, used the AI models of the application, known as Quarkllm. The updated version will integrate functions, including a chatbot, a deep reflection, the execution of tasks in a one -counter application, said Alibaba on Thursday.

President Joe Tsai stressed in a Recent column for the South China Morning Post that practical applications were essential to maximize intelligence in the development of the AI model.

Last Thursday, the technology giant revealed QWQ-32B, his latest IA reasoning model, which he claimed “Rival peak reasoning modelFor example, Deepseek-R1. “”

Alibaba announced last month A plan to invest 380 billion dollars yuan ($ 52.5 billion) in cloud computing and IA infrastructure over the next three years. The company said that its Qwen AI had successfully succeeded in official reference tests and demonstrates the growing influence of the company in the field.

AI manus, created by Chinese start butterfly effect, Tuesday revealed A strategic partnership with Alibaba. Developed by the Chinese start-up Monica, Manus AI is a so-called general agent of the AI who claims to be able to deliver performance superior to that of the agent of Openai, Deepresearch.

Experts previously told CNBC that Alibaba had done “Impressive stardi” By advancing his AI Cloud business. Business has published a sharp increase in profits In the December quarter on the strength of its Cloud Intelligence Unit and its electronic commerce segment. Earlier this year, Alibaba obtained a major partnership with Apple Inc for AI on Iphones and now aims to face Openai.

Alibaba’s shares in Hong Kong fell 2.45% to $ 131.5 Hong Kong ($ 16.9) on Thursday.