Alibaba Cloud has significantly expanded its AI portfolio for global customers by introducing new models, platform enhancements, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tools. These updates were revealed during the Spring Launch 2025 online event and highlight Alibaba’s commitment to fostering AI innovation and adoption worldwide. With a focus on meeting the growing demand for AI-driven digital transformation, Selina Yuan, President of International Business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, emphasized the importance of these updates in providing secure and high-performance services to help businesses scale and innovate in an AI-centric environment.
At the core of the announcement is the expanded availability of Alibaba Cloud’s proprietary Qwen large language model (LLM) series for international clients, starting from Singapore. This includes specialized models such as Qwen-Max, an advanced reasoning model called QwQ-Plus, and QVQ-Max, which handles complex visual reasoning tasks, among others. These models aim to equip international businesses with powerful tools for developing sophisticated AI applications.
To support these models, Alibaba Cloud’s Platform for AI (PAI) has undergone substantial upgrades, aimed at delivering scalable and user-friendly generative AI solutions. Notably, the introduction of distributed inference capabilities addresses the demands of super-large models and enhances performance. In tests with the Qwen2.5-72B model, Alibaba Cloud recorded impressive results, including a 92% increase in concurrency, demonstrating the platform’s enhanced capabilities.
In addition to infrastructure improvements, Alibaba Cloud has also integrated AI into its flagship database, PolarDB, allowing for in-database machine learning and reducing data movement. This offers significant enhancements for tasks like developing conversational agents and performing semantic searches. Furthermore, Alibaba Cloud introduced two new SaaS tools: AI Doc, which enhances document processing, and Smart Studio, a content creation platform that integrates multiple media generation tools.
This reflects Alibaba’s strategy to support various industries in leveraging AI for transformation. The company’s recent announcement of a $53 billion investment over three years further reinforces its commitment to AI advancements and solidifies its status as a leading global cloud provider.