Alibaba launches AI chatbot to boost consumer reach

Alibaba has launched a new AI chatbot assistant within its Quark app in China, aiming to broaden its reach in the consumer sector.

The Quark app, initially a browser, was revamped this year to serve as Alibaba’s main consumer platform featuring AI-powered search and chat functions.

The free chatbot service allows users to interact via text or voice to receive real-time information and services.

Alibaba said the new chatbot uses its latest Qwen3 models to improve reasoning and understanding.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Alibaba’s consumer AI assistant footprint trails leaders; Quark’s high overall MAU complicates comparisons

Quark is Alibaba’s main consumer AI app. Tongyi had 6.96 million monthly active users (MAU) in September 2025. ByteDance’s Doubao had 150 million, DeepSeek 73.4 million, and Tencent 64.2 million.
The 100 million monthly active users reported in February 2025 1 cover Quark’s overall MAU, not its AI assistant. Direct comparisons need the share that uses AI features versus search.
The company was among the first in China to launch a consumer AI assistant in late 2023. Tongyi did not gain wide adoption. Quark now faces rivals with 10 to 25 times larger AI-focused user bases.

AI assistant developers and content publishers can explore Quark’s open platform for early distribution advantages

Quark blends search with dialogue 2, which can support third-party services or plugins.
Software as a Service (SaaS) providers and content publishers can look at ties with Weipu and CNKI 3 (large Chinese databases of scholarly literature). Those deals allow integration of external services. They can create paths for lead generation and monetization if an open developer platform exists.
The app lists application programming interfaces (APIs) for file handling and search operations 4. Developers and AI toolmakers who want early placement in Alibaba’s AI ecosystem should check the developer docs for ways to submit plugins, skills, or mini-apps (lightweight apps that run inside a host application) before the platform scales.