Alibaba said it will spend 3 billion yuan, about $431 million, to draw users to its Qwen AI app during the Lunar New Year holiday, raising the stakes in China’s AI race. The push comes as major platforms fight for consumers’ time and loyalty during one of the country’s busiest digital seasons. The company did not detail how the funds will be used, but the spend signals a drive to widen adoption fast.
“Alibaba said on Monday it will spend 3 billion yuan ($431 million) to attract users to its Qwen AI app during the Lunar New Year holiday, heating up a race between China’s largest tech firms.”
The announcement fits a pattern of holiday campaigns that seek to lock in new users with short, sharp promotions. It also shows how Chinese tech firms are shifting AI from lab demos to mass-market products.
Why This Holiday Matters
The Lunar New Year period is a peak time for mobile activity in China. Consumers send digital red envelopes, play games, stream shows, and shop. Companies often pour marketing funds into giveaways and app features to ride this surge.
Alibaba has long used the season to boost its payment app and e-commerce platforms. Now it is turning that playbook toward Qwen, its consumer-facing AI product powered by models developed by Alibaba Cloud. The move suggests the company wants to speed up user onboarding and build daily habits around AI tools.
What Is Qwen and Who It’s Up Against
Qwen is part of Alibaba’s suite of large language models. Earlier versions were branded as Tongyi Qianwen and targeted both business and consumer use. The app offers chat, content generation, and productivity features.
Alibaba faces strong rivals:
- Baidu’s Ernie, which is tightly integrated with search and enterprise tools.
- Tencent’s Hunyuan, linked to WeChat and its mini-programs.
- ByteDance’s Doubao and related products embedded in short video and news feeds.
- iFlytek’s Spark, which leans on speech tech and education use cases.
These firms control large traffic channels. Winning share means tying AI into services people already use, and offering clear utility.
The Subsidy Playbook Returns
The 3 billion yuan budget recalls past subsidy waves in China tech. E-commerce discounts, ride-hailing coupons, and food delivery offers were used to scale quickly. Holiday “hongbao” campaigns on payments apps showed how aggressive incentives can shift behavior in days.
AI, however, carries higher operating costs. Running large models and serving millions of prompts can be expensive. A heavy spend may lift downloads, but retention will hinge on speed, accuracy, safety, and useful features.
Analysts See Push for Scale and Data
Industry watchers say the holiday push aims at scale. More users mean more feedback and use cases, which can improve model performance. It can also attract developers to build plug-ins or mini-apps around Qwen.
There are risks. Safety rules on AI-generated content are strict in China. Companies must filter outputs, verify sources, and respond to takedown orders. Over the holiday, when usage spikes, moderation systems will be tested.
Signals for the Next Phase
Alibaba’s spend points to a new phase of competition: turning general AI into daily tools for the mass market. The next steps to watch include:
- How the money is allocated, such as user rewards, creator programs, or partner incentives.
- Integration of Qwen into payments, shopping, and cloud services to build stickiness.
- Latency and reliability during peak usage, which shape user trust.
- Clear paths to revenue, such as premium tiers or enterprise add-ons.
If Qwen gains traction, rivals could answer with their own holiday pushes, repeating the rapid-fire battles seen in past subsidy eras.
What It Means for Users and the Industry
For consumers, the campaign could make AI tools more accessible, at least during the holiday. For developers and small businesses, incentives could lower the cost of trying new features. For the industry, the spend signals that user growth is still the top metric.
It also highlights a shift from model benchmarks to real-world performance. The services that win will likely be those that help people write, search, plan trips, manage money, and learn—without friction.
Alibaba’s holiday bet marks a bold move to turn curiosity into habit. The coming weeks will show whether a large budget can convert festive traffic into lasting engagement, or if rivals will blunt the effect with their own offers. Watch for updates on user numbers, app rankings, and new features. These will show if Qwen’s push was a seasonal spike—or the start of a steady climb.
