Alibaba Launches “Qwen” Personal AI Assistant Project to Challenge ChatGPT
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Alibaba is building “Qianwen”, a Qwen-based personal AI assistant backed by a $52B infra plan, to compete in the ChatGPT-style agentic AI era.
Alibaba has quietly kicked off a project code-named “Qwen” to build a consumer-facing personal AI assistant app based on its strongest Qwen model, aiming squarely at ChatGPT-class experiences and signaling a shift beyond Alibaba’s recent focus on enterprise AI, according to a report on Nov. 13, 2025. Senior leadership is framing Qwen as a “future-of-AI” battle and plans to lean on Qwen’s open-source momentum to compete globally.
The move comes after Alibaba outlined a ¥380 billion (about $53 billion) three-year investment in AI infrastructure—including data centers and accelerated compute—and weeks after its Quark unit began rolling out a dialogue assistant and AI glasses, part of an internal “C Plan” to expand consumer AI across devices (with eventual PC support). Until now, Alibaba’s heavy bets have centered on B2B model APIs via Alibaba Cloud; Qwen marks a renewed push into the consumer arena.
Alibaba has not publicly detailed a release date, pricing, or international availability for the Qwen app. The company’s positioning suggests it will try to pair large-model capability with a multi-terminal ecosystem, bringing Qwen-powered assistants to phones, wearables and PCs as part of a broader C-end strategy.
