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Alibaba Renames Tongyi App to Qianwen, Positioning It as the Gateway to Its Qwen AI

The rebrand signals a push to productize Alibaba’s Qwen model for everyday use.

Overview

  • Alibaba’s Android app has been updated to version 5.0.0 and renamed from Tongyi to Qianwen.
  • The store listing describes Qianwen as the official AI assistant built on Alibaba’s strongest closed-source Qwen model.
  • Core features highlighted include advanced dialogue Q&A, multi-genre writing tools, and a camera with visual reasoning.
  • The iOS version has not yet adopted the new name, with a rename expected in a subsequent update.
  • Earlier reports said the Qianwen effort targets ChatGPT, as Alibaba backs its AI strategy with a three‑year, ¥380 billion infrastructure plan and a projected tenfold rise in data-center energy use by 2032.