Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) is reportedly preparing an overhaul of its main mobile AI app in the coming months to help it more closely resemble OpenAI’s (OPENAI) ChatGPT.
Alibaba (BABA) plans to start by updating the existing “Tongyi” apps on iOS and Android and renaming them “Qwen,” after the company’s well-known AI model, Bloomberg News reported.
It will then gradually add agentic-AI features to support shopping on platforms, including the main Taobao marketplace, in the coming months, the report added.
The end goal is to try to make Qwen a fully functioning AI agent. Alibaba plans to eventually expand globally with an overseas version, and has dedicated more than 100 developers from around the company to the makeover over the past months, as part of additional AI investments.
The Chinese e-commerce firm has joined rivals like Minimax and ByteDance (BDNCE) in advancing AI models to challenge leaders such as OpenAI and DeepSeek (DEEPSEEK).