Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has disclosed its intentions to launch Qwen 3, an enhanced version of its flagship AI model, as early as this month.
The tech company is attempting to stay ahead of fierce competition from rivals like OpenAI and DeepSeek.
Tech companies in Asia are releasing new models to keep up with the intense competition
Sources familiar with the matter said the new offering from the Hangzhou-based company might arrive later in April, highlighting the possibility that the exact date might still change. Apart from the individual, a Chinese media outlet, Huxiu, reported about Alibaba’s intentions earlier.
Alibaba has been investing heavily in AI this year and releasing products rapidly. A week ago, the Chinese leader in cloud computing and e-commerce released a new model in its Qwen 2.5 series that can process text, images, audio, and video.
Moreover, the new model is powerful enough to run directly on laptops and mobile devices. Alibaba also released a new version of the Quark app, an AI assistant, last month.
These new models emerging from Asia tech companies threaten to undermine premium U.S. products from companies like Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and OpenAI.
Following this, the massive tech companies in the United States are trying to maintain a competitive edge. As a result, in recent weeks, OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, an AI safety and research company based in San Francisco, have all unveiled a sudden increase in the release of new models.
Furthermore, following DeepSeek and Alibaba’s push for open-source AI systems, OpenAI recently announced that it intends to release a more “open” model that imitates human reasoning in the coming months.
Alibaba released an updated AI assistant app to stay ahead of its competitors
Amid an intense global competition to develop next-generation technology, Alibaba Group launched a new version of its AI assistant app that would run on its flagship Qwen AI reasoning model.
This was the company’s most recent attempt in March to gain an advantage in the face of surging competition in the AI application ecosystem.
Alibaba stated that Quark, which was released in 2016, has used QuarkLLM, the app’s AI model. The new version will also integrate chatbot, deep thinking, and task execution into a single app.
Alibaba Group Chairperson Joe Tsai recently emphasized in a South China Morning Post column that AI model development must be implemented in practical situations to maximise intelligence.
Alibaba declared on February 24 that it would spend 380 billion yuan, worth about $52.5 billion, over the following three years on cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The business asserted that its Qwen AI has shown the company’s increasing influence in the industry and has done well in official benchmark tests.
According to experts, Alibaba has progressed greatly in developing its AI cloud business. Furthermore, during the December quarter, the company’s cloud intelligence and e-commerce divisions saw a notable profit increase.
Earlier this year, Alibaba secured a major partnership with Apple Inc. for AI on iPhones and intends to compete with OpenAI.
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