Alibaba has released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence model, claiming it outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, and Meta’s Llama-3.1-405B across multiple benchmarks. The announcement comes amid intensifying competition in the Chinese AI sector, particularly following the rapid rise of DeepSeek.
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The timing of the Qwen 2.5-Max launch—on the first day of the Lunar New Year—suggests the mounting pressure Alibaba faces from DeepSeek’s recent breakthroughs. The Chinese startup’s DeepSeek-V3 model, released on January 10, and its R1 model, launched on January 20, have not only disrupted the AI landscape domestically but have also caused ripples in Silicon Valley. DeepSeek’s purportedly low development and operational costs have raised concerns among investors about the sustainability of massive AI spending by leading US firms.
In response, Alibaba and other Chinese tech giants have rushed to upgrade their AI capabilities. Just two days after DeepSeek-R1’s release, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, rolled out an update to its flagship AI model, claiming it outperformed OpenAI’s o1 in the AIME benchmark test. This move mirrored DeepSeek’s assertion that its R1 model could rival OpenAI’s o1 in several key performance areas.
With Chinese AI firms rapidly evolving and competing with Western tech giants, the global AI race is becoming more intense, potentially reshaping the industry’s future dynamics.
