Alibaba takes on Meta with Qwen-powered Quark AI Glasses

Alibaba has officially launched its own AI glasses, marking a significant step in the company's expansion into the wearable technology market. This development showcases Alibaba's commitment to integrating artificial intelligence into consumer products, aiming to enhance user experiences through innovative technology.

ChatGPT and Copilot will be withdrawn from WhatsApp as part of Meta's new policy changes aimed at regulating the use of AI chatbots on its platform. This decision reflects a significant shift in how Meta is managing third-party integrations within its messaging service.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has commenced sales of its Quark S1 smart glasses in China, priced at approximately $537. These glasses are powered by Alibaba's Qwen AI models, marking the company's entry into the consumer hardware market. International versions are expected to be released in 2026.

Microsoft has unveiled the Fara-7B, an agentic AI model built on the Qwen framework, designed to operate directly on personal computers. This model is trained on 145,000 synthetic trajectories generated through the Magentic-One framework, enabling users to perform complex tasks locally while enhancing privacy and reducing reliance on cloud services.

Alibaba and ByteDance are reportedly training their latest large language models (LLMs) in Southeast Asian data centers to gain access to Nvidia's AI chips, a strategic move to circumvent U.S. export restrictions. This shift highlights the growing trend of Chinese tech companies seeking alternative locations for AI development amid geopolitical tensions.

A new memory system called LightMem has been introduced to enhance the efficiency of Large Language Models (LLMs) by organizing memory into three stages inspired by human cognition. This system aims to improve the utilization of historical interaction information in dynamic environments while minimizing computational overhead.

Meta has removed competing AI chatbots from its messaging platform WhatsApp, a move that reflects its strategy to consolidate its position in the AI space. This decision comes amid increasing scrutiny over competitive practices in the tech industry.

Italy's competition regulator is expanding its investigation into Meta's policy that excludes rival AI chatbots from WhatsApp, a probe that initially began in July. This scrutiny reflects concerns about competitive practices in the AI messaging space and the implications for user choice and innovation.