Alibaba's new AI model is cheaper and more efficient
Technology
Alibaba just rolled out Qwen 3.5, its newest AI model that's not only 60% cheaper but also eight times more efficient than before.
Designed to work smoothly on both phones and computers, Qwen 3.5 is all about making smart tech more accessible and handling tasks on its own in what Alibaba calls the "agentic AI era."
Qwen 3.5 takes on ByteDance's Doubao
With this launch, Alibaba is taking aim at rivals like ByteDance's Doubao, which already has nearly 200 million users.
The company says Qwen 3.5 even beats big US models like GPT-5.2 and Gemini 3 Pro when it comes to performance and cost.
And with competitor DeepSeek rumored to be dropping a new model soon, things are definitely heating up in China's AI race.