Prime Highlight
- Alibaba’s Qwen AI app now lets users complete real-world transactions, including ordering food and booking travel, directly through the chat interface.
- The upgrade reflects Alibaba’s shift from AI that only answers questions to AI that can actively perform tasks through deep integration with its services.
Key Facts
- Since its public beta launch on November 17, Qwen has reached over 100 million monthly active userswithin two months.
- The new Qwen version integrates Taobao, Alipay, Fliggy, and Amap, allowing users to make payments and plan travel without leaving the chat interface.
Background
Alibaba has rolled out major upgrades to its Qwen artificial intelligence app, allowing users order food and book travel directly through the AI chat interface. The company announced the update on Thursday as it steps up efforts to expand its presence in consumer-facing AI services.
The new features, now available in public testing in China, let users carry out transactions without switching between apps. Alibaba is changing how it presents Qwen, turning it from an AI assistant that mainly answers questions into one that can take action and link to real-world services.
Wu Jia, Vice President of Alibaba Group, said the upgrade signals a broader change in AI development. He said the company is moving from systems that only understand user requests to systems that can act on them through deep integration with daily services.
The upgrade follows a major Qwen update launched two months ago, when Alibaba began shifting focus toward consumer AI. In the past, the company concentrated more on enterprise AI through its cloud business, while rivals such as ByteDance and Tencent moved faster in consumer applications.
The latest version of Qwen brings together several core Alibaba services into one AI interface. These include the Taobao e-commerce platform, instant commerce services, Alipay for payments, Fliggy for travel bookings, and Amap for navigation. With Alipay, users can approve and make payments directly in the chat. Alibaba said the payment feature currently supports instant commerce orders and will expand over time.
Alibaba also introduced a new “Task Assistant” feature in invite-only testing. The tool can place phone calls to restaurants, handle up to 100 documents at once, and plan complex travel routes.
Since its public beta launch on November 17, the Qwen app has crossed 100 million monthly active users in just two months. Powered by Alibaba’s Qwen3 model, the upgrade highlights growing competition in China’s AI market as companies race to turn advanced AI models into useful consumer tools.
