The new free app, built on the latest version of Alibaba’s Qwen large language model, is now available in China as a mobile application and website, with an international rollout planned later, the company said Monday. Alibaba highlighted the app’s capabilities, noting it can generate a full research report and produce a polished, multi-slide PowerPoint presentation with a single command.
The Qwen App, now in public beta testing, is being promoted as “the best personal AI assistant with the most powerful model,” according to Alibaba.
Strategic Shift Amid Intensifying Competition
This move represents a strategic pivot for Alibaba, which previously concentrated on enterprise-focused AI solutions through its cloud services. The decision comes amid a fierce price war in China’s AI sector, driven by startups such as DeepSeek, which have emphasized low-cost AI compute and app development, forcing larger competitors to respond.
Alibaba has previously offered consumer-facing AI tools, including the Tongyi app—which Qwen is effectively rebranded from—and AI assistant features within its Quark browser. However, none achieved significant market traction. Tongyi, launched in late 2023, had just under 7 million monthly active users in September, according to AI tracker Aicpb.com, compared with ByteDance’s Doubao at 150 million, DeepSeek at 73.4 million, and Tencent at 64.2 million.
With the Qwen App upgrade, Alibaba aims to close the gap with rivals and establish a stronger presence in the fast-growing consumer AI space, where adoption and user engagement have so far favored competitors.