Alibaba Qianwen emerges, global AI super entrance competition escalates

This week is a milestone week for Alibaba. On November 17, Alibaba officially launched the "Qianwen" project and began public testing of the "Qianwen APP," based on the world's top-performing open-source model Qwen3, targeting ChatGPT. The battle for the super AI entry point between Chinese and American tech giants has officially begun.

With the launch of Qianwen, Alibaba, the Chinese tech giant, is facing a new round of scrutiny from relevant parties.

On November 20, Bloomberg commented that attempts to curb Alibaba through restrictive measures would not only be ineffective but could also backfire, exacerbating the complex international economic and trade tensions.

In the field of AI, few Chinese companies can make the U.S. so vigilant.

The reason behind this is that Alibaba has already gained global influence in AI technology. By providing free services to global users, Qianwen may pose a potential threat to Silicon Valley leader OpenAI, which reportedly derives 70% of its annual revenue from consumer use of ChatGPT.

On November 17, Alibaba officially announced the launch of the public testing version of the Qianwen APP, stating that it aims to "compete comprehensively with ChatGPT based on the world's top-performing open-source model Qwen3, leveraging free access and integration with various life scenario ecosystems."

After its launch, the Qianwen APP gained strong momentum. On November 19, just two days after the public testing went live, the Qianwen APP successfully surged to the third position on the Apple App Store's free app chart.

Alibaba stated that the strategic goal of the Qianwen APP is to create the future "AI life entry point," becoming a personal AI assistant that "can chat and get things done." In addition to intelligent conversation, "getting things done" will be its core focus. Currently, Qianwen can perform complex tasks such as generating PPTs with a single command and has outperformed top global models in real investment competitions.

Insiders revealed to Wall Street Insights that Alibaba is planning to integrate various life scenarios such as maps, food delivery, ticket booking, office work, learning, shopping, and health into the Qianwen APP, enhancing its capability to get things done.

The reason Alibaba dares to directly challenge ChatGPT is that it holds two trump cards: comprehensive free access and recognized underlying technical capabilities on a global scale.

Since its full open-source release in 2023, the Qwen model under Alibaba has surpassed 600 million downloads globally. Public information shows that the recently released flagship model Qwen3-Max has outperformed international top models such as GPT-4 and Claude 3 Opus in performance. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, revealed during the 2025 GTC conference that Qwen has the highest market share among global open-source models and is still growing.

At the same time, the Qwen model is becoming a technological cornerstone for Silicon Valley startups. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky publicly stated that the company is "heavily relying on Qwen" because it is faster and better than OpenAI's models The so-called "Qwen Panic" has emerged in Silicon Valley. As of now, Alibaba's Qwen has open-sourced over 300 models, with downloads in major global model communities exceeding 600 million, and derivative models surpassing 170,000, surpassing Meta's Llama to become the world's largest open-source model family.

It is reported that an increasing number of global multinational companies are choosing to build systems based on Qwen rather than alternatives from Silicon Valley. Although negative public sentiment once caused fluctuations in Alibaba's stock price, market sentiment quickly stabilized. The capital market remains bullish on Alibaba, with Citigroup analysts advising investors to "buy on dips" and pointing out that Alibaba is unlikely to take risks that could jeopardize its reputation by crossing red lines.

Bloomberg believes that although Alibaba's AI ambitions face a complex international environment, its technological rise is a foregone conclusion. Rather than trying to maintain an advantage by suppressing competitors, it would be wiser to focus on enhancing the appeal of its products to businesses and consumers