Qwen

Alibaba's Qwen family: open releases and iterations, from flagship models to small on-device ones.

205 picksRelated topicsDeepSeek Kimi / Moonshot AI Open source

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Mar 5Thursday

36Kr (direct RSS)Mar 5, 20:55

Alibaba Denies Mass Departure From Qwen Team, Says Team Stable and Services Normal

Alibaba said on March 5 that reports of a mass departure from the Qwen core team were false, adding that the team is stable and products and services are operating normally. It also said Qwen will keep its open-source strategy; the post does not disclose the rumor source, team size, or future investment amount. The key signal is Alibaba's statement that its foundation model team has never been given DAU-style commercialization KPIs.

Why it matters: HKR-H lands on the 'mass resignation' denial hook; HKR-K lands on three concrete signals: Qwen stays open-source, service is normal, and no DAU KPI is set. HKR-R is strong on talent and strategy nerves, but this is still a company rebuttal with no team-size or attrition data, so

Take

Alibaba’s denial should be read less as rumor control and more as a public firewall around Qwen’s research mandate. The post says there was no “mass departure,” services are normal, and Qwen will keep open source; the heavier line is that the foundation-model team has never had DAU-style commercialization KPIs. That matters because Qwen’s leverage comes from developer distribution, not consumer app growth charts.

I would discount “continued investment” until Alibaba attaches numbers. The article gives no team size, rumor source, compute budget, or 2026 spending plan. After DeepSeek, every Chinese model lab has to prove capability and cost discipline at once. Alibaba has cloud, open source, and enterprise channels; the tension is whether Qwen can stay insulated from group-level product metrics once internal business units demand visible returns.

36Kr (direct RSS)Mar 5, 08:24

36Kr 8AM Brief: Alibaba executives address Lin Junyang's departure from Qwen; DCP buys Blue Bottle; Jack Ma discusses AI

Alibaba held an internal Q&A after Qwen lead Lin Junyang sought to resign, and Eddie Wu, Jiang Fang, and Zhou Jingren said Qwen is expanding rather than shrinking. The post says the successor role and reporting line remain under discussion, and it does not disclose the departure reason or final org plan. The key signal for AI practitioners is Alibaba's explicit stance that Qwen will receive more resources.

Why it matters: This clears HKR-H and HKR-R: a sudden Qwen leadership change plus Alibaba's emergency response is inherently newsy and matters for how readers judge Chinese flagship-model momentum. HKR-K is weak because the article lacks the departure reason, successor, and final org structure,

Take

Alibaba’s emergency Qwen messaging exposes an org problem, not a strategy problem. 36Kr gives the useful hook: after Lin Junyang sought to leave, Eddie Wu, Jiang Fang, and Zhou Jingren told staff Qwen is not shrinking and will get more resources. But Zhou Hao’s role, the successor seat, and the reporting line are still under discussion.

That matters because Qwen now spans open-source models, Alibaba Cloud APIs, the Tongyi app, and enterprise accounts. Someone has to make tradeoffs across release cadence, pricing, safety, and developer distribution. DeepSeek won developer mindshare with a clean research-led story; Qwen has the heavier Alibaba machine behind it, which helps distribution but punishes fuzzy ownership. Jack Ma meeting Alibaba and Ant leaders on AI on March 3 is a loud signal. It does not resolve the handoff at the model team.

Feb 28Saturday

36Kr (direct RSS)Feb 28, 15:09

Qwen plans AI glasses, earbuds, and rings as tech giants race for a new AI entry point

A report says Alibaba's Qwen plans AI glasses, earbuds, and rings for a global launch in 2026; the glasses are slated for MWC 2026, with reservations opening on March 2. The post adds that Qwen app functions like food delivery and ride hailing will move to these devices, and cites Qwen3.5-Plus with 60% lower memory use, up to 19x inference throughput, and RMB 0.8 per million tokens. The real point is distribution: if the hardware connects Alipay, Amap, and Taobao, Alibaba is chasing the consumer AI entry layer, not just device sales.

Why it matters: This is a distribution-entry story for Alibaba/Qwen, not a routine accessory refresh. HKR-H/K/R all pass: the multi-device bet is a strong hook, the report includes launch timing and model economics, and it hits the ecosystem-front-end nerve; but it is still a media exclusive, so

Take

Alibaba’s wearable push is less about copying Meta’s glasses and more about moving Qwen App transactions onto smaller surfaces. The article gives three concrete hooks: global launch in 2026, Qwen AI glasses at MWC with March 2 reservations, and food delivery plus ride-hailing moving to the devices. The model-side math matters too: Qwen3.5-Plus claims 60% lower memory use, up to 19x inference throughput, and RMB 0.8 per million tokens.

I don’t buy the generic “AI entry point” framing. Meta Ray-Ban won early attention through camera-first daily use; Alibaba’s credible asset is Alipay, Amap, Taobao, and Ele.me-style transactions. Even mediocre hardware can still serve as Qwen distribution probes. But if the experience is just voice ordering in a new shell, the ring and earbuds become channel theater fast.

Feb 10Tuesday

36Kr (direct RSS)Feb 10, 14:30

Alibaba Qwen launches the new image generation foundation model Qwen-Image-2.0

Alibaba Qwen announced Qwen-Image-2.0, an image generation foundation model, and opened API invite testing on Alibaba Cloud Bailian. Developers can also try it for free in Qwen Chat; the post does not disclose model size, pricing, eval results, or a general release date.

Take

Qwen-Image-2.0 is being tested as a developer entry point first, not as a clean model-vs-model claim. The article confirms two things: API invite testing on Alibaba Cloud Bailian, and free trials through Qwen Chat. It gives no parameter count, pricing, evals, resolution limits, image-to-image scope, or general release date.

Image generation is now a workflow and distribution fight as much as a model fight. OpenAI pushes image generation through ChatGPT; Midjourney still owns a strong taste-community loop. Alibaba’s credible angle is Bailian API access plus enterprise integration, not the phrase “new generation.” Until Qwen shows reproducible comparisons on prompt adherence, text rendering, style control, and cost per image, this launch is a channel signal with missing technical proof.

Feb 9Monday

36Kr (direct RSS)Feb 9, 18:18

Qwen’s 10 Million Milk Teas: How Alibaba’s Massive AI Freebie Campaign Unfolded

Alibaba’s Qwen drove over 10 million orders via a Feb. 6 free-order campaign, but the app slowed and crashed from 10 a.m. to noon as load exceeded capacity; orders had already passed 2 million before noon. 36Kr says initial server capacity was only about one-third of the expected peak, and the subsidy pool was framed as 3 billion yuan; the real signal is not a model leap but a paid test of AI commerce entry and consumer acquisition.

Why it matters: HKR-H lands on the free-milk-tea plus outage hook, while HKR-K lands on concrete scale and capacity numbers. HKR-R also lands because the story speaks to AI distribution, subsidy economics, and infra reliability, but it remains a single-company promo test rather than a market-shi