65 h. ago Alibaba’s Qwen app becomes the world’s fastest growing AI app as MAUs surge 149%

Alibaba Group Holding’s new flagship artificial intelligence app Qwen was the fastest growing AI app in the world in November, according to third-party data released on Wednesday. Qwen recorded the highest growth in monthly active users (MAU) among AI products globally at 149 per cent, data compiled by AI product popularity tracker Aicpb.com showed. Its MAUs for the app reached 18.34 million, making it the world’s 24th most used AI app just two weeks into its public beta. Qwen’s success stemmed...

Politics

3 d. ago India’s strong economic growth impresses amid doubts on ‘overstated’ data

The better-than-expected growth of India’s economy, driven by strong performance in the domestic consumer and manufacturing sectors, highlights its near-term resilience despite a slowdown in exports and US import tariffs. While India’s 8.2 per cent year-on-year growth figure in the July to September quarter was the fastest among major economies, analysts warn that the headline numbers may not provide a true picture of the challenges it faces. Private consumer spending, which accounts for more...

Economics

3 d. ago How sanctioned Russian oil flows freely via a tiny Pacific island nation

Dozens of oil tankers suspected of smuggling contraband crude for Russia and Iran have been using a beachside office in the tropical South Pacific to cover their tracks, an analysis of sanctions data has revealed. Nestled next to a pizza shop in the far-flung Cook Islands is the modest headquarters of one of the fastest-growing shipping registries in the world. Without ever setting foot in the palm-fringed microstate, foreign shipowners can pay Maritime Cook Islands to sail under its...

Politics

7 d. ago Alibaba Cloud team wins top AI award for breakthrough in model efficiency

A research team led by Alibaba Cloud was the only group from China to receive a top award at this year’s NeurIPS, or the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, billed as the artificial intelligence industry’s most prestigious annual event. The research could lead to drastic improvements in the efficiency of large language models (LLMs), significantly reducing both training and inference costs for Alibaba Group Holding’s next generation of Qwen models without sacrificing...

Events

1 week ago ‘Out of ICU’: Hong Kong’s quarterly real estate deals triple to US$4.9 billion

Investment in Hong Kong’s commercial property more than tripled in the third quarter from a year earlier, making it the second-fastest growing market in the Asia-Pacific region amid rising confidence in the city’s bruised real estate sector, according to MSCI. Some US$4.9 billion was pumped into offices, data centres, retail spaces, hotels and senior housing in the September quarter, a year-on-year increase of 231 per cent, according to the data services provider, which compiled deals worth at...

Economics

1 week ago AI Singapore picks Alibaba’s Qwen over Meta to drive new regional language model

AI Singapore (AISG) – a national programme by the city state of Singapore to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence – has chosen to base its latest large language model on Alibaba’s Qwen, in a significant win for the Chinese technology giant as it promotes its AI services in Southeast Asia. AI Singapore, designed to enhance the city state’s national AI capabilities, had released a new model, Qwen-SEA-LION-v4, based on Alibaba’s Qwen3-32B foundation model to better address the...

Politics

1 week ago AI Singapore picks Alibaba’s Qwen to drive new regional language model

AI Singapore (AISG) – a national programme by the city state of Singapore to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence – has chosen to base its latest large language model on Alibaba’s Qwen, in a significant win for the Chinese technology giant as it promotes its AI services in Southeast Asia. AI Singapore, designed to enhance the city state’s national AI capabilities, had released a new model, Qwen-SEA-LION-v4, based on Alibaba’s Qwen3-32B foundation model to better address the...

Politics

1 week ago Alibaba’s Qwen chatbot sets record by topping 10 million downloads in debut week

Alibaba Group Holding’s new multipurpose artificial intelligence app, Qwen, recorded more than 10 million downloads in the first week of its public beta launch, faster than OpenAI’s ChatGPT or DeepSeek, the company said on Monday. The strong debut of Qwen, launched last week, augured well for the Chinese tech conglomerate’s efforts to establish a major AI assistant that would rival the performance of Google’s Gemini chatbot and ChatGPT, both of which are not available on the mainland. The Hong...

Politics

2 w. ago Alibaba bets on ‘everything app’ Qwen to define AI era for global consumers

Alibaba Group Holding’s new multipurpose artificial intelligence consumer app, Qwen, has the potential to become China’s “super-app” in the AI era in the same way Tencent Holdings’ WeChat defined the mobile internet age, analysts say. Powered by Alibaba Cloud’s own model series of the same name, Qwen quickly jumped to fourth overall on Apple’s app store for free apps in Hong Kong and fifth in mainland China on its second day of beta testing. The app, billed as “the best personal AI assistant”,...

Politics

2 w. ago Alibaba’s Qwen app challenges AI subscription models with free access

Alibaba Group Holding has officially launched its multipurpose artificial intelligence app, Qwen, promising a “free-for-all” gateway for consumers to access a variety of AI-powered services, from mapping to shopping. Qwen, powered by Alibaba Cloud’s open-source model series of the same name and marketed as “the best personal AI assistant”, serves not only as a chatbot but also as a comprehensive AI tool designed to meet user needs in both professional and personal contexts, the company said on...

Politics

2 w. ago Alibaba revamps chatbot amid US ‘panic’ over firm’s AI progress

Alibaba Group Holding has begun a revamp of its artificial intelligence chatbot in a move to match OpenAI’s ChatGPT, according to app store information and media reports, as some observers see “panic” in Silicon Valley over the Chinese tech giant’s rapid AI progress. The new chatbot app, Qwen, an upgraded and renamed version of the previous app, Tongyi, became available on Android and Apple app stores on Friday. Alibaba dubbed the updated app the “most powerful official AI assistant for its...

Politics