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Alibaba Bets Big on AI with 3 Billion Yuan Boost
2 Feb
Summary
- Alibaba plans to spend 3 billion yuan on its Qwen AI app.
- Promotions are set to begin on February 6 for Lunar New Year.
- This spending significantly surpasses rivals Tencent and Baidu.
Chinese tech giants are escalating their competition in the artificial intelligence sector, with Alibaba announcing a significant investment of 3 billion yuan ($431 million) to promote its Qwen AI app.
This extensive campaign is scheduled to commence on February 6, coinciding with the lead-up to the Lunar New Year holiday. Alibaba's pledge far exceeds the combined spending of its major rivals, Tencent and Baidu, who previously announced investments of 1 billion yuan and 500 million yuan, respectively, for their AI chatbot promotions.
The Lunar New Year period, beginning February 15 and lasting nine days this year, has historically been a critical marketing battleground for Chinese technology firms. Companies leverage this time, when hundreds of millions travel, to attract new users, a strategy exemplified by Tencent's successful use of WeChat red envelopes in 2015 to boost its payment service.
The current AI race has accelerated following market shifts, prompting further innovation and rivalry among domestic players. Tencent's Yuanbao chatbot is already offering digital red envelopes to users who upgrade the app, with rewards that can be withdrawn to WeChat wallets or shared with others for cash incentives.
While Alibaba has not specified the exact nature of its rewards, which could include cash or discounts on platforms like Taobao, other AI firms are also preparing for the holiday. DeepSeek is anticipated to release its next-generation AI model, V4, in mid-February.
