Grabbing a share of the consumer AI market! Alibaba’s self-developed AI glasses open for pre-sale, as low as 3,699 yuan after subsidies, new chatbot challenges ChatGPT

Grabbing a share of the consumer AI market! Alibaba’s self-developed AI glasses open for pre-sale, as low as 3,699 yuan after subsidies, new chatbot challenges ChatGPT

Alibaba is accelerating its efforts to seize the consumer AI market. On the 24th, this Chinese tech giant launched pre-sales for its first self-developed AI glasses and released a new generation chatbot, challenging Meta’s smart glasses and OpenAI’s ChatGPT for leadership in their respective fields.

According to Hard AI, Alibaba’s Quark AI glasses began pre-sales at midnight on the 24th at the Quark Smart Device Tmall flagship store, starting at 4,699 yuan. With an 88VIP member subsidy, the actual price is 3,699 yuan, while regular consumers pay 3,999 yuan. The product will begin shipping in December. Powered by Alibaba’s independently developed Qwen large language model and the Quark AI assistant, these glasses support hands-free calls, music playback, and real-time translation among other features.

Meanwhile, Alibaba launched a new AI Chat Assistant mode in its Quark app, powered by the latest Qwen3 model, offering text and voice conversations, image editing, AI writing, and more. The intention is to integrate AI search and chat into a single interface.

These consumer-oriented AI products mark a shift in Alibaba’s strategic focus. Boosted by the news, Alibaba shares in Hong Kong rose nearly 1.7% at Thursday’s close, and its U.S. pre-market trading also climbed.

Hardware specs rival Meta smart glasses, deeply integrate Alibaba’s ecosystem services

Quark AI glasses feature dual flagship chips, Qualcomm AR1 and Hengxuan BES2800, dual light engine binocular display, and adjustable display distance in both directions. They also offer integrated prescription solutions for users with myopia.

For photography, they support rapid snapshot, super night mode, ultra-clear video, and dual anti-shake function. In terms of battery life, users can conveniently swap out temple batteries for an “infinite battery" experience.

This is the product Alibaba first unveiled in July this year, and marks its first attempt at the wearable device sector. Many tech firms regard wearables like smart glasses as the next computing frontier after smartphones. Alibaba’s move directly rivals Meta’s smart glasses co-designed with Ray-Ban, and will also compete against Xiaomi’s AI glasses launched this year.

In addition to mainstream functions like calling, music, translation, memos, schedule reminders, prompting, and photo Q&A, Quark AI glasses are deeply customized with multiple Alibaba ecosystem services.

These custom features include AutoNavi near-eye navigation, Alipay "Look" secure payment, Taobao price recognition for similar items, Fliggy travel reminders, etc. During pre-sales, all users will also receive three years of SVIP Quark cloud membership (worth 900 yuan), a 99-yuan temple battery, and a 10% discount on prescription lenses.

Chatbot challenges ChatGPT

The newly launched Alibaba AI Chat Assistant represents a new chatbot mode within the Quark app, driven by the latest Qwen3 model.

This product allows users to switch to the chatbot interface for text or voice interactions. Alibaba says this new feature enables "AI search and conversation" in a single interface, aiming to meet all user needs within a single app.

Features include photo editing, image-based problem solving, and AI writing.

This product is Alibaba’s response to the growing number of chatbot products, from OpenAI’s ChatGPT to DeepSeek and others.

Consumer-grade AI becomes Alibaba’s new battleground

These products highlight a field of increasing focus for Alibaba — consumer-facing artificial intelligence.

This year, Alibaba has been active in AI, continuously releasing updated versions of its models, and striving to sell these technologies to enterprise clients via its cloud computing business to revitalize its cloud growth.

But the smart glasses and chatbot products indicate Alibaba is shifting more of its focus to the consumer AI market, aiming to establish a competitive edge in this emerging field.

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