Chinese e‑commerce giant Alibaba unveiled a new AI chatbot assistant on Thursday, marking a renewed effort to compete in the consumer-focused AI space, where rivals like ByteDance and Tencent have already established a strong presence.
Alibaba has rolled out the AI chatbot within its Quark app, which originally launched as a web browser but has been repositioned this year as the company’s primary consumer-facing platform. The app now incorporates AI-driven features, including enhanced search functions, aiming to offer users a more interactive and intelligent experience.
The new AI chatbot service is free to use and lets people chat through text or voice. According to Alibaba, it can provide real-time information and services, making interactions faster and more convenient for users.
Until now, Alibaba’s AI initiatives have been mainly aimed at enterprise clients through its cloud services division. The launch of the new consumer-facing chatbot represents another effort to engage everyday users, following limited success with its earlier Tongyi AI assistant app in a market dominated by competitors like ByteDance and Tencent.
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Although Alibaba was one of the first Chinese companies to launch a consumer AI assistant with Tongyi in late 2023, the app has struggled to gain broad user adoption, highlighting the challenges the company faces in a highly competitive market.
In September, Tongyi recorded around 6.96 million monthly active users, according to AI tracker Aicpb.com. By comparison, market leader ByteDance’s Doubao attracted 150 million users, followed by DeepSeek with 73.4 million and Tencent with 64.2 million, underscoring the steep competition Alibaba faces in the consumer AI space.
Alibaba is doubling down on its consumer AI push with the new chatbot in Quark, aiming to catch up with global players like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, whose AI assistants are already embedded in platforms such as Gemini, Copilot, and ChatGPT. Using its latest Qwen3 models, Alibaba says the Quark AI assistant delivers improved reasoning, comprehension, and task execution, signaling the company’s determination to make a mark in the consumer-facing AI market.
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In a separate announcement on Thursday, Alibaba revealed that pre-sales for its Quark AI Glasses would start at midnight Friday on its Tmall e‑commerce platform. The company plans to begin shipping orders gradually in December with the glasses priced at 4,699 yuan ($660), as per Reuters.
Alibaba’s Quark AI Glasses could be positioned as a strong competitor to Meta’s smart glasses by emphasizing their integration with the company’s AI-powered ecosystem, including the Quark chatbot and other consumer services. With features such as real-time AI assistance, voice and visual interaction, and advanced task execution, the glasses aim to offer a more interactive and practical experience for everyday users. Priced competitively at 4,699 yuan ($660), they could appeal to consumers looking for a combination of affordable hardware and robust AI functionality, differentiating them from Meta’s higher-end, more lifestyle-focused AR offerings.