Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is getting ready to launch a new AI service for companies. This move taps into the excitement around smart AI assistants, like OpenClaw, that actually help people get things done.
Sources familiar with the matter say the Chinese tech giant might announce this new AI agent product as early as this week. It’s built on Alibaba’s main Qwen AI model and designed specifically for businesses. The company plans to slowly link this agent with other services, including its online shopping site Taobao and payment platform Alipay. The team behind Alibaba’s work communication tool, DingTalk, developed this new AI agent.
Alibaba’s new product highlights its ongoing commitment to various AI services. It also shows they recognize how popular AI agents like OpenClaw have become, helping users buy things or manage emails. This new business AI tool can help companies control computers, web browsers, and cloud servers. It even includes features to keep data safe.
It’s not clear yet how Alibaba will charge businesses for this product. We also don’t know how much it will connect with Alibaba’s other services right away. Alibaba didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Alibaba will release its quarterly earnings on Thursday. The company faces questions about its AI plans, especially after a key developer recently left. Last year, CEO Eddie Wu promised over $53 billion for AI, making artificial general intelligence the company’s main goal.
Since then, Alibaba’s AI-related businesses have seen huge growth, though they started from a small base. Before last year, Alibaba mostly focused on AI and cloud computing for businesses. Then, they updated their Qwen app for regular people. This month, Alibaba also became one of the first Chinese tech companies to offer an OpenClaw app for smartphones.
