In the fiercely competitive AI application landscape of late 2025, a dark horse is rapidly gaining traction.
On December 10, Alibaba announced that its AI application "Qianwen" has surpassed 30 million monthly active users (MAUs) across its app, web, and PC platforms within just 23 days of its full public launch on November 17. This makes it one of the fastest-growing AI applications globally.
Industry observers note that this reflects strong market demand for AI applications, signaling a shift from flashy "chat capabilities" to practical "problem-solving" functionalities.
**More Than Just a Traffic Boom** Qianwen's rapid rise stems from multiple factors, showcasing both technological prowess and strategic positioning.
First, its foundation lies in Alibaba's long-term development of the Qianwen (Qwen) large language model (LLM). Since 2023, Alibaba has pursued an aggressive open-source strategy, with its Qwen series gaining widespread recognition on platforms like Hugging Face.
To date, Alibaba has open-sourced over 300 Qwen models, covering text, programming, images, audio, and video across sizes ranging from 0.5B to 480B parameters. Downloads have exceeded 600 million globally, with derivative models surpassing 170,000.
Second, its clear focus on practical scenarios—particularly work and study—has accelerated user adoption. By targeting high-frequency use cases with tangible needs, Qianwen quickly carved out a market niche.
This strategic approach aligns with the broader industry trend of AI evolving from experimental tools to practical solutions.
**Delivering "Problem-Solving" Capabilities** Qianwen's initial rollout included four key features: AI-powered PPT generation, AI writing, AI document retrieval, and AI homework assistance—each demonstrating its shift from a "toy" to a "tool" and even a "smart assistant."
- **AI PPT**: Users can generate presentations via simple prompts, supporting 39+ input formats (documents, images, audio, etc.) with customizable templates. - **AI Writing**: Assists in drafting and editing essays, official documents, contracts, and proposals, with preloaded templates for academic, legal, and business use. - **AI Document Search**: Helps users locate resources (e.g., past exam papers, textbooks) via natural language queries. - **Homework Aid**: Auto-grades assignments, provides error analysis, and offers step-by-step problem-solving explanations.
**The "First Gateway" to AI** Alibaba recently established a dedicated Qianwen Consumer Business Group, led by VP Wu Jia, merging its Smart Information and Smart Interconnect divisions. The group oversees Qianwen’s app, Quark, AI hardware, UC, and Shuqi.
Internally, Alibaba has emphasized transforming Qianwen into a "super app" that serves as the primary AI gateway for users. Future expansions will cover smart glasses, PCs, and vehicles, making AI accessible anytime, anywhere.
The app is iterating weekly, integrating services like maps, food delivery, ticketing, office tools, and shopping. Sources reveal plans to add agentic-AI features, including Taobao shopping support, with eventual global expansion via an overseas version.
This effort is part of Alibaba’s $380 billion AI infrastructure investment announced in September. CEO Wu Yongming has mobilized over 100 developers across departments to accelerate the project, underscoring Alibaba’s dual focus on AI services and foundational tech.
At September’s Yunqi Conference, Wu Yongming stated that achieving AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is inevitable but merely a stepping stone toward ASI (Artificial Superintelligence), which could address global challenges like climate change and space exploration.
He described LLMs as the "next-gen OS," not replacing Windows or Linux but redefining interactions between physical and digital worlds, with most real-world tools eventually connecting to AI systems.
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