Alibaba Launches New AI Unit to Push Qwen into Daily Life

Alibaba Group is creating a new business unit to get its artificial intelligence (AI) into the hands of consumers. The Chinese tech giant announced the move on Tuesday. The new division, called the Qwen Consumer Business Group, will focus on popularizing AI applications built on Alibaba's "Qwen" family of large language models. These models are the core AI technology that powers chatbots and other smart tools. The unit will be led by Alibaba vice-president Wu Jia. It will manage several existing consumer products, including the Qwen chatbot app and the Quark browser's AI assistant. It will also oversee AI hardware, a cloud drive service, the UC Browser, and the Shuqi reading platform. This reorganization signals a major strategic shift for Alibaba. The company is placing a clear priority on making its proprietary AI a direct part of everyday digital life.