Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said its newly rebranded artificial intelligence application Qwen surpassed 10 million downloads within a week of its relaunch, signaling early traction in the Chinese tech giant’s bid to build a consumer-facing AI platform to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose more than 5% on Monday after the company disclosed the figure in a post on its official WeChat account. The download surge follows Alibaba’s decision earlier this month to consolidate and relaunch several existing iOS and Android apps under the unified Qwen brand, part of a wider overhaul to position the company at the forefront of AI adoption.
The rapid uptake underscores how AI-powered applications have been setting new benchmarks for user growth since OpenAI’s ChatGPT became the fastest consumer product to reach 100 million users three years ago.
Excluding Meta Platforms’ Threads — which benefited from a built-in social graph — Alibaba’s Qwen ranks among the fastest-rising AI apps globally, and stands out in China, where ChatGPT is unavailable due to regulatory restrictions.
“Whether Alibaba can leverage the Qwen app to drive its consumer-facing business will be a key determinant of the company’s future valuation,” said Kenny Ng, strategist at China Everbright Securities International. “The market sees this launch as a critical move that allows investors to benchmark Alibaba more directly against OpenAI’s valuation.”
The announcement comes as other Alibaba affiliates ramp up their own AI efforts. Over the weekend, Ant Group said its multimodal AI assistant LingGuang had logged more than 1 million downloads in the four days since launch, suggesting strong domestic demand for local AI tools.
Alibaba said it plans to expand Qwen’s capabilities over the coming months by integrating agentic AI features to support online shopping across its major consumer platforms, including Taobao. The company aims to turn Qwen into a full-fledged AI agent capable of powering both retail transactions and everyday digital services.
Under Chief Executive Eddie Wu, Alibaba has repositioned itself as an “AI-first” company following years of slowing growth in its core e-commerce operations. Wu’s strategy — including a multibillion-dollar investment in large-language models and AI infrastructure — will be under fresh scrutiny when the company reports quarterly earnings on Tuesday and takes questions from investors.
“Alibaba plans to deeply integrate core lifestyle and productivity services — including digital maps, food delivery, travel booking, office tools, e-commerce, education, and health guidance — directly into the Qwen app,” the company said in a statement, adding that further updates will be rolled out in stages.
Analysts say the early momentum for Qwen could help Alibaba rebuild investor confidence after several years of underperformance, though the company will still need to demonstrate sustained user engagement and show how AI products translate into higher revenue growth.
