Alibaba’s Qwen Unveils Preview of Flagship AI Model

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(Bloomberg) -- Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. launched a preview version of its flagship Qwen3.8 Max model, which it described as comparable to leading frontier AI models and second only to Anthropic PBC's Fable 5.

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The Sunday release came only days after Chinese startup Moonshot AI unveiled a powerful offering. Kimi K3's performance rivals top offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI and helped upend perceptions of China's AI capabilities while roiling global technology stocks.

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Developers can now access Qwen3.8 Max through Alibaba's coding platforms, including Qoder. The new model is among the most powerful available today, the Hangzhou-based company said in a post on X.

Alibaba plans to make the model open-weight soon, expanding access beyond the preview release. The post said Qwen3.8 Max has 2.4 trillion parameters but provided no additional technical specifications. Moonshot's Kimi K3, meanwhile, boasts of 2.8 trillion parameters.

The Chinese e-commerce giant recently scored a victory after Beijing approved Apple Intelligence, as Alibaba is serving as a technology partner for the US company's AI offering in the Asian nation.

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