The Chinese company, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. released a new version of its flagship Qwen AI model. As per Alibaba, the Qwen 3 is a family of AI models that is quite similar and in some cases even better than the models available from Google and OpenAI. The release emphasis the breakneck pace of development that’s characterized China’s artificial intelligence sphere in the wake of DeepSeek.
On Tuesday, Alibaba after the unveiling of its Qwen3 series of models, said it rivals DeepSeek’s performance on several fronts, including math and coding. Qwen3 also significantly cuts deployment costs compared to other major models, the company said. The Qwen2 AI by Alibaba is an upgraded version of its flagship artificial intelligence model that introduces new hybrid reasoning capabilities.
Qwen 3 AI availability
Most of the Alibaba AI models shall be available for download under an “open” license from AI dev platform Hugging Face and GitHub. They range in size from 0.6 billion parameters to 235 billion parameters. Parameters roughly correspond to a model’s problem-solving skills, and models with more parameters generally perform better than those with fewer parameters.
Qwen 3 hybrid AI
The Qwen3 series includes two so-called mixture-of-experts (MoE) models that are trying to match hybrid reasoning systems recently introduced by Anthropic and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. DeepSeek and other developers have also used the MoE technique, which divides tasks into smaller sets of data, very much like having a team of specialists who each focus on a segment of a job, thereby making the process more efficient.
The Qwen team wrote in a post, “We have seamlessly integrated thinking and non-thinking modes, offering users the flexibility to control the thinking budget”. “This design enables users to configure task-specific budgets with greater ease.”
Increase pressure for US companies
The rise of China-originated model series have increased the pressure on American labs such as OpenAI to deliver more capable AI technologies. They have also led policymakers to implement restrictions aimed at limiting the ability of Chinese AI companies to obtain the chips necessary to train models.
Alibaba is building its AI endeavors around Qwen. In February, Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu said the company’s “primary objective” was now artificial general intelligence, a somewhat hazy goal in the industry to build AI systems with human-level intellectual capabilities.
Alibaba says Qwen 3 “excels” in tool-calling capabilities as well as following instructions and copying specific data formats. In addition to the models for download, Qwen 3 is available from cloud providers including Fireworks AI and Hyperbolic.
Other Chinese companies joining AI race
Chinese search leader Baidu joined the AI arms race last Friday with the release of its Ernie 4.5 Turbo and reasoning-focused Ernie X1 Turbo models.
Alibaba’s newest release merges conventional AI functions with advanced dynamic reasoning, creating what the company calls a more adaptable and efficient platform for app and software developers.
The e-commerce giant had previously rushed out its Qwen 2.5-Max model in late January, just days after DeepSeek’s announcement, claiming superior performance.
