Alibaba is cutting prices on its visual artificial intelligence model by up to 85% as competition in China’s AI sphere intensifies.
Qwen-VL, the company’s visual language model, will be available for CN¥0.003 (A$0.00066) per thousand token uses.
The model “generates content based on images, text, and bounding boxes as input,” according to Alibaba Cloud, the company’s cloud computing arm. Qwen-VL can compare images, analyse text, and answer questions, Alibaba said.
"Since June [2023], the Qwen family has attracted over 90,000 enterprise deployments through Alibaba Cloud's generative AI platform, Model Studio, further demonstrating its leadership position backed by robust adoption across industries from consumer electronics, automobiles to gaming,” Alibaba Cloud said in May.
ByteDance, another major player in China’s AI scene, cut prices on a similar visual language model in December, which is now also available for CN¥0.003 per thousand token uses.
Tencent also launched a text-to-video AI generator last month.
Alibaba last slashed its Qwen models’ prices by 97% in May to spur demand.
The e-commerce company will also sell its shares in Sun Art Retail Group, a hypermarket chain, to DCP Capital for US$1.6 billion.
Alibaba has held a stake of around 70% in Sun Art since 2020. Sun Art is valued at around US$3 billion.
The sale comes as Alibaba offloads its physical commerce assets to refocus on online sales and services. Alibaba also sold its Intime department stores last month to Youngor Fashion Co. for US$1 billion.
Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) share price closed at US$84.79 on 31 December, up from the previous day’s $84.13. The New York Stock Exchange will reopen for trading on 2 January.
Alibaba’s market capitalisation is US$203.3 billion.