Alibaba unveils open-source AI coding model Qwen3-Coder

Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) launched an open-source AI model, Qwen3-Coder, for software development that the company described as its most advanced agentic AI coding model to date.

Shares of Alibaba rose about 2% premarket on Wednesday.

Qwen3-Coder is designed for software development tasks like code generation and managing complex coding workflows and debugging across entire codebases, the company said in a statement.

Alibaba noted that it is open-sourcing Qwen Code, a command-line interface, or CLI, tool that enables developers to delegate engineering tasks to AI using natural language. Optimized with custom prompts and interaction protocols, Qwen Code unlocks the full potential of Qwen3-Coder for real-world agentic programming.

The model also supports integration with the Claude Code interface, making it even easier for developers to execute their coding tasks, according to the company.

The Chinese e-commerce and tech giant positioned the model as mainly strong in “agentic AI coding tasks.”

Agentic AI coding refers to using AI agents that can independently make decisions and act to reach specific goals in coding tasks, often without constant human supervision.

Qwen3-Coder outperformed local Chinese rivals, including models from DeepSeek (DEEPSEEK) and Moonshot AI’s K2 in key coding capabilities, as per performance data released by Alibaba, Reuters reported.

Alibaba also claimed its model matched the performance of leading U.S. models, including Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s GPT-4 in some areas, the report noted.

Update: The article was updated with a press release provided by Alibaba.