Alibaba’s Qwen Chatbot: A Revamped Model with Lower Pricing

Alibaba Enhances Qwen AI Chatbot to Compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Alibaba has recently updated its artificial intelligence chatbot Qwen in a bid to keep pace with cutting-edge tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The revamped version of the app has replaced the older Tongyi iteration and was made available on both major app stores last Friday.

Describing Qwen as the “most powerful official AI assistant for its models” in its app-store listings, Alibaba highlights it as the primary means for users to experience its latest Qwen model. The company also intends to introduce agent-style functionalities to assist shoppers on platforms such as Taobao, as reported by Bloomberg. Despite a request for comment, Alibaba has not responded.

Over the past two years, Alibaba has been actively expanding the utilization of its Qwen models amidst the global surge towards AI technologies. Alongside emerging Chinese players like DeepSeek and Moonshot AI, Alibaba has positioned itself as one of the country’s prominent AI developers. Furthermore, Alibaba has adopted an open-source approach by offering its models for external usage and adaptation.

Alibaba’s efforts to monetize these models have proven successful, with sales from its AI products experiencing triple-digit growth for eight consecutive quarters up to the June quarter. Simultaneously, Alibaba has significantly reduced the cost of utilizing its largest model, Qwen3-Max, by nearly half, according to the South China Morning Post. Initially launched with premium pricing on Alibaba Cloud, the trillion-parameter system has now slashed its API rates, offering discounts for off-peak hour batch tasks.

Recently, the model clinched the top spot in a cryptocurrency investment competition that pitted leading models from both the US and China against each other. The price reduction aligns with heightened competition in China’s model market, with several startups like Moonshot AI, Zhipu AI, and MiniMax introducing new systems boasting enhanced performance and cost-effectiveness.

China has witnessed multiple rounds of price reductions across the AI sector, triggered by fierce competition among major model developers. Innovations have extended to areas such as coding tools, with ByteDance’s cloud unit, Volcano Engine, launching a new coding agent at a competitive price point.

Companies have also adopted novel strategies to attract customers, with Moonshot AI, endorsed by Alibaba, offering new users the opportunity to test its Kimi K2 Thinking model at a minimal cost. However, an attempt to negotiate steep discounts with the Kimi chatbot led to unforeseen issues, prompting immediate rectification by the company.

Alibaba’s rapid advancements in AI have garnered attention overseas, with marketing specialist Tulsi Soni noting a growing “Qwen panic” in Silicon Valley. Yet, the company faced allegations reported by the Financial Times regarding its purported provision of technical support to China’s People’s Liberation Army, sparking concerns in Washington about Chinese cloud and AI providers.

Alibaba vehemently refuted the accusations as “completely false,” attributing them to a malicious attempt to disrupt US-China trade relations. The Chinese Embassy in the US echoed these sentiments, denouncing the allegations as baseless distortions.

(Image credit: zhang hui)

Related: Alibaba Unveils Enhanced Qwen Model for Advanced AI Transcription Tools

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