Meet Qwen - Alibaba's DeepSeek Competitor!! Stock Price Surges on Announcement

Alibaba's shares surged more than 8% on March 6, 2025, following the unveiling of its new reasoning model, QwQ-32B, developed by its AI unit, Qwen. This model, with 32 billion parameters, is claimed to rival the performance of DeepSeek's R1, a much larger model with 671 billion parameters, as well as other top models like OpenAI's o1 mini. The announcement sparked significant market enthusiasm, with Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares climbing to HK$140.5–HK$140.80 by the close of trading, reflecting an increase of up to 8.4%.

The QwQ-32B model is designed for mathematical reasoning, coding, and general problem-solving, reportedly matching or exceeding the capabilities of its competitors in benchmark tests while using fewer computational resources. It’s accessible via Alibaba’s chatbot service, Qwen Chat, alongside other models like Qwen2.5-Max, the most powerful in the Qwen series. The release aligns with a broader wave of AI innovation in China, bolstered by government pledges to support industries like artificial intelligence, which likely amplified investor optimism.

This surge is part of a larger trend for Alibaba, whose shares have risen nearly 70% in 2025, fueled by its AI advancements and a rebounding e-commerce sector. The open-source nature of QwQ-32B, combined with its efficiency, has been highlighted as a competitive edge, positioning Alibaba as a serious contender in the global AI race. Market sentiment is further buoyed by strategic moves, such as Alibaba’s commitment to invest over $52–53 billion in AI and cloud infrastructure over the next three years, signaling long-term ambition in the field. Analysts see this as a sign of China’s push to build an application-driven AI ecosystem with tangible economic impact, driving Alibaba’s stock to its highest levels in years.