Alibaba has established a new division, the Qwen Consumer Business Group, led by VP Wu Jia, to enhance its consumer-focused AI offerings. This unit encompasses the Qwen chatbot, Quark AI assistant, cloud services, AI hardware, UC Browser, and Shuqi online reading platform. Following a surge in open-source model adoption, the division aims to transform the Qwen chatbot into a versatile “super app” accessible across devices like glasses and cars. This restructuring merges the Intelligent Information and Intelligent Connectivity Business Groups to strengthen consumer hardware initiatives, including the TmallGenie smart speaker. Relaunched in November, the Qwen app—an upgrade from the Tongyi app—marks Alibaba’s ambitious entry into the competitive consumer AI landscape. It boasts functionalities like answering queries, audio transcription, and content generation, achieving over 10 million downloads in its first week of beta, surpassing ChatGPT and DeepSeek’s initial adoption rates.
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