Alibaba Group has launched its sophisticated Qwen3.5 AI series, intensifying China’s shift from chatbots to autonomous agent technologies.
Released on Monday before Lunar New Year, it ramps up rivalry with firms like ByteDance and Zhipu AI, who unveiled similar agent-focused upgrades last week.
The open-source edition boasts 397 billion parameters but uses just 17 billion via a Mixture of Experts design for cost-effective power. Developers may download and customise it freely, while the hosted Qwen-3.5-Plus runs on Alibaba’s Model Studio cloud.
These models handle text, images, and videos seamlessly, excelling at tasks like security anomaly detection or live stream summaries. They support 201 languages—double the prior 82—underlining Alibaba’s global reach.
With built-in coding and agent features, Qwen3.5 works alongside tools like OpenClaw for complex, low-supervision workflows. Global buzz surged after Anthropic’s agent tools sparked market jitters over disrupting software services.
Alibaba’s tests claim parity with leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind, at 60% lower cost for heavy use, though unverified independently.
Marc Einstein, research director at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC that artificial intelligence companies are preparing for the possibility that AI agents could “upend traditional Internet business models.”
“If this happens, the consequences for those who are not prepared will be severe and [Chinese AI companies] are aware of this,” he said.
Qwen team lead Lin Junyang signalled more open-source releases over the holiday, as OpenAI recruits OpenClaw’s creator amid U.S. acceleration.