Tongyi Qianwen APP Smashes 100 Million MAU: Alibaba's AI Assistant Becomes the Fastest-Growing Consumer AI Product in History
As of January 2026, Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen mobile app has officially surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAU), according to internal data leaked and confirmed by industry trackers. Launched in April 2023 and supercharged by the Qwen3 series rollout in 2025, Qianwen achieved this milestone in under 3 years — outpacing ChatGPT's global ramp-up, DeepSeek's explosive 2025 surge, and even ByteDance's Doubao. With free access to Qwen3-Max, unlimited Deep Think sessions for pro users, and seamless integration into Taobao, DingTalk, and Alipay, Qianwen has become the default AI companion for hundreds of millions in China and rapidly expanding SEA markets.
DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis: China-US AI Model Gap Is Now Just “A Few Months” — The Race Is Neck-and-Neck
In a high-profile interview at the World Economic Forum Davos 2026 on January 14, DeepMind CEO and co-founder Demis Hassabis stated that the performance gap between leading Chinese and American frontier AI models has narrowed dramatically to “only a few months.” He highlighted rapid progress from companies like DeepSeek, Alibaba’s Qwen, and ByteDance, crediting massive compute investments, open-source momentum, and talent density. This candid assessment marks the first time a top Western lab leader has publicly acknowledged near-parity in frontier capabilities, signaling a decisive shift in the global AI power balance.
Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen Goes Live on qianwen.com: Unlocking 10+ Qwen3 Models for Pro Users, Crushing ChatGPT's Growth Curve
On November 24, 2025, Alibaba's flagship AI assistant Tongyi Qianwen officially launched on its sleek new domain qianwen.com, delivering seamless web-to-app experiences and unlocking over a dozen Qwen3-series models — including Qwen3-Max-Thinking-Preview and Qwen3-Coder — exclusively for pro users. Packed with PC-optimized coding tools, deep research modes, and smart conversation grouping, this upgrade catapults Qianwen into direct turf war with ChatGPT. Just a week post-public beta on November 17, the app smashed 10 million downloads, outpacing ChatGPT's launch velocity and signaling Alibaba's AI dominance in Asia's consumer market.
