In November 2025, Alibaba upgraded its Qwen AI chatbot, marking a significant shift towards “agentic commerce” in China’s tech industry. This innovation allows users to complete transactions, including food orders and travel bookings, directly within the chatbot interface, linking it to Alibaba’s extensive e-commerce ecosystem. By integrating with platforms like Taobao and Fliggy, along with payment processing via Alipay, Qwen enhances user experience and retention. This transition reflects the broader trend among AI firms moving from foundational AI to agentic AI, which can perform tasks autonomously with minimal supervision. As Alibaba competes with Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s Doubao chatbot, the focus remains on creating integrated ecosystems. Experts predict that agentic AI could revolutionize industries, with over half of consumers already leveraging AI for online searches. By 2030, AI agents are expected to generate over $1 trillion in value for U.S. businesses, emphasizing the potential of this technology in e-commerce and beyond.
Source link
