BUSINESS

Alibaba Integrates AI Chatbot With Taobao, Alipay

Published: Jan. 16, 2026 3:05 p.m. GMT+8

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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has integrated its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Qwen, with its core services including marketplace Taobao and travel platform Fliggy, allowing users to execute tasks such as ordering food and booking flights via a single chat interface.

The integration is part of a major strategic shift, under which the Chinese tech giant is leveraging its vast ecosystem to transform Qwen into an all-in-one consumer-facing AI agent.

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Alibaba integrated its AI chatbot Qwen with services like Taobao, Fliggy, and Alipay, enabling unified tasks such as shopping and booking through chat.
Qwen's monthly active users surpassed 100 million, ranking it among China's biggest AI apps; top competitors include Doubao (172M MAU), DeepSeek (145M), and Yuanbao (32.9M).
Alibaba aims to enhance Qwen's intelligence and expand ecosystem integration, with further third-party app access planned after Lunar New Year.

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Who’s Who

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has integrated its AI chatbot, Qwen, with core services like Taobao and Fliggy, transforming it into an all-in-one consumer-facing AI agent. Qwen, with over 100 million monthly active users, now supports tasks such as food delivery, online shopping, and flight bookings. This strategy leverages Alibaba's "richest ecosystem" with the "strongest Qwen model" to create a comprehensive AI platform.

Taobao: Taobao, an Alibaba marketplace, has integrated with Alibaba's AI chatbot, Qwen. This allows users to perform shopping tasks, including receiving product recommendations, through a single chat interface. When a user expresses purchase intent, Qwen can generate three recommendation options from Taobao's database, directing the user to Taobao to complete the purchase.

Fliggy: Fliggy, Alibaba's travel platform, has been integrated with the AI chatbot Qwen. This integration allows users to book flights and hotels directly through Qwen's chat interface. This move is part of Alibaba's strategy to transform Qwen into an all-in-one consumer-facing AI agent, leveraging its extensive ecosystem. The new functions are currently available for public testing.

Alipay: Alipay, a prominent digital payment platform, is now integrated with Alibaba's AI chatbot, Qwen. This integration allows users to access services like online shopping, flight/hotel bookings, and lifestyle functions directly through Qwen's chat interface. This move is part of Alibaba's strategy to transform Qwen into an all-in-one consumer-facing AI agent, leveraging its extensive ecosystem.

Taobao Flash Sale: Taobao Flash Sale is one of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s core services. It has been integrated with Alibaba's AI chatbot, Qwen. This integration allows users to access "Taobao Flash Sale" functionalities, including online shopping, directly through Qwen's chat interface. This move is part of Alibaba's strategy to create an all-in-one consumer-facing AI agent.

Amap: Amap (高德地图) is Alibaba's mapping service. It has been integrated with Alibaba's AI chatbot, Qwen. This integration allows Qwen to support various lifestyle services, including checking social security records and making visa appointments, by leveraging Amap's capabilities within the broader Alibaba ecosystem.

ByteDance: ByteDance's AI app, Doubao, is a major player in China's AI market. As of September 2025, Doubao had 172 million monthly active users, making it the top AI app in the country by MAUs. It competes with other prominent AI platforms like Alibaba's Qwen and Tencent's Yuanbao.

DeepSeek: DeepSeek is a prominent AI app in China. As of September 2025, it ranked as the second-largest AI app in the country by monthly active users (MAU), reaching 145 million MAUs.

Tencent: Tencent's Yuanbao is one of China's top three AI apps by Monthly Active Users (MAUs). As of September 2025, Yuanbao's MAUs reached 32.9 million, making it a significant player in the competitive Chinese AI market, alongside ByteDance's Doubao and DeepSeek.

QuestMobile: QuestMobile is a research firm that provides data on app usage. As of September 2025, their data showed that ByteDance's Doubao, DeepSeek, and Tencent's Yuanbao were the top three AI apps in China by monthly active users, with MAUs of 172 million, 145 million, and 32.9 million, respectively.

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