Alibaba Launches AI-Powered Quark Assistant

Alibaba has unveiled a new version of its Quark application, an AI-powered assistant that leverages the company's proprietary Qwen-based advanced reasoning model. This marks Alibaba's first general user-facing platform to fully integrate its foundation models, . Quark aims to transform the traditional search experience by offering capabilities such as AI chatbot, deep research, and task execution.

The revamped Quark is designed to handle a variety of tasks, including academic research, document drafting, image generation, and travel planning. It allows users to ask complex questions and receive real-time, precise information from multiple online sources, complete with reference links for verification. This comprehensive AI assistant is set to enhance the work-life needs of over 200 million users in China.

Quark's launch is part of Alibaba's broader AI strategy, which includes increased investments in AI infrastructure, foundational models, and AI-native applications over the next three years. The upgraded Quark will be gradually rolled out to users, starting with a pilot phase to ensure optimal user experience.