Beijing: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has unveiled a new version of its Quark application, a comprehensive AI assistant powered by Alibaba’s Qwen-based advanced reasoning model.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Quark is the first within Alibaba’s general user-facing businesses to fully leverage its proprietary foundation models. This development marks a significant milestone in Alibaba’s strategy to integrate AI across its diverse range of services.

The revamped Quark application boasts advanced capabilities, including an AI chatbot, deep thinking, deep research, and task execution, all integrated into an easy-to-use interface. Its functions range from academic research to document drafting, image generation, presentations, medical diagnostics, travel planning, and problem solving. Users can pose complex, multi-part questions and receive detailed follow-ups directly within the search engines.

“This upgraded version of Quark is just the beginning. As our model capabilities continue to evolve, we envision Quark as a gateway to endless possibilities where users can explore everything with AI,” stated Wu Jia, CEO of Quark and vice president of Alibaba Group.

During its most recent earnings announcement, Alibaba Group expressed plans to increase investment in three core areas of its AI strategy over the next three years. These areas include infrastructure for AI and cloud computing, the development of foundational models and AI-native applications, and AI integration across existing businesses.

Eddie Wu, CEO of Alibaba Group, highlighted the potential of large AI models to enhance search, productivity, content creation, and workplace efficiency during the company’s recent earnings call.

Initially launched in 2016 as a web browser within Alibaba Group, Quark has evolved into a leading AI-powered information services platform, boasting over 200 million users in China.