Alibaba has unveiled a major upgrade to its flagship AI model as China’s tech giants race to stay ahead of rising rival DeepSeek.
The new model, called Qwen3.5, is designed to handle AI agent tasks and can process text, photos, and videos. Alibaba says it can even analyze videos up to two hours long.
The upgrade lands just weeks before Lunar New Year, a key period for app launches and user growth in China. Several companies are rushing out updates before the holiday, hoping to capture attention before DeepSeek releases its next major platform.
Rivals including ByteDance, Zhipu, and Minimax have also introduced new AI upgrades. The competition intensified after DeepSeek’s R1 model shook the global AI industry in 2025.
Alibaba has doubled down on artificial intelligence since then. CEO Eddie Wu has pledged more than $53 billion toward AI infrastructure and development, signaling how serious the company is about leading the space.
The battle is not just about technology. Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu are reportedly offering a combined 4.5 billion yuan ($649 million) in subsidies and incentives to attract users to their AI chatbots during the holiday period.
At the same time, Alibaba is turning its Qwen app into a super app. Its 100 million users can now order bubble tea, book travel, and access other services directly through AI-powered agents inside the platform.
With China’s AI race heating up, the next few weeks could prove critical in deciding who leads the country’s fast-moving artificial intelligence market.
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