Alibaba Shares Surge After QwQ-32B AI Model Launch

Alibaba's stock surged over 8% following the launch of its new AI reasoning model, QwQ-32B, which claims to compete with DeepSeek's R1 model despite having significantly fewer parameters (32 billion compared to 671 billion). The company asserts that QwQ-32B showcases exceptional capabilities in mathematics, coding, and general problem-solving, and is designed to be more cost-efficient to train. Investors have responded positively, with Alibaba's shares gaining nearly 71% year-to-date. This development comes amid a broader push in China to support the AI sector, with the government pledging more resources to emerging tech industries. Alibaba plans to invest $52 billion in AI and cloud infrastructure over the next three years, reinforcing its position as a leader in the Chinese AI landscape. The QwQ-32B model is now accessible via the company's Qwen Chat service, indicating a strategic move to integrate advanced AI into its offerings.