Alibaba creates AI tool for companies to ride China agent craze
The company’s latest product underscores its steady investment in a panoply of artificial intelligence services
Published Mon, Mar 16, 2026 · 01:28 PM
[HONG KONG] Alibaba Group Holding plans to release an agentic artificial intelligence (AI) service for companies, banking on national enthusiasm around AI assistants such as OpenClaw that help users perform actual tasks.
The Chinese company may announce the new AI agent product, based on its flagship Qwen model and tailor-made for enterprises, as soon as this week, sources familiar with the matter said. The company plans to gradually integrate other services with the agent, including online shopping site Taobao and fintech platform Alipay, the sources said, asking to remain anonymous while discussing private plans.
The tool was developed by the team that runs Alibaba’s Slack-like DingTalk platform, the sources added.
Alibaba’s latest product underscores its steady investment in a panoply of AI services, as well as a recognition of the explosive popularity of agentic AI such as OpenClaw that can help buy items or manage email. The newly created enterprise AI tool can help firms operate computers, browsers and cloud servers, though with built-in features to safeguard data security, the sources said.
It’s unclear how Alibaba is going to charge enterprises for the product, or the extent to which it will integrate existing in-house services at the outset. Alibaba did not respond to an emailed request seeking comment.
Alibaba, which is set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday (Mar 19), is grappling with questions about its AI strategy following the sudden departure of one of its star developers. Chief executive officer Eddie Wu promised over US$53 billion of investment in AI last year, after announcing artificial general intelligence as the company’s primary goal.
It’s since experienced triple-digit growth in AI-related businesses, though off a low base. Alibaba had mostly focused on enterprise-facing AI and cloud computing solutions before revamping its Qwen app last year for consumers. This month, it also became one of the first Chinese tech companies to introduce an OpenClaw app for smartphone users. BLOOMBERG
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