Alibaba Unveils New AI Model to Compete with Industry Giants

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Alibaba has launched its latest AI model, Qwen2.5 Max, claiming to surpass existing technologies such as DeepSeek's AI, OpenAI's GPT-4o, and Meta's Llama. The announcement comes amid growing competition in the AI sector following the release of DeepSeek's recent models, which have shaken the market and prompted major tech companies to adjust their strategies.

This new version of Qwen, according to Alibaba's cloud division, shows significant performance improvements over its competitors, making it a formidable player in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. The rise of DeepSeek, which has become notable for its low-cost yet high-performance AI models, has pressured established firms like Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu to enhance their offerings and reduce prices to maintain market share.

In a response to DeepSeek's disruptive pricing strategies, which included offering AI processing at just 1 yuan per 1 million tokens, Alibaba's cloud division has reportedly cut prices by up to 97% on certain AI models. This price war reflects the increasing urgency among tech giants to innovate and remain competitive as the AI field expands.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged DeepSeek's impressive progress, hinting at the development of advanced future models, as the competition in the AI market continues to intensify.

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