TECH

Alibaba’s Qwen Launches AI Ride-Hailing Feature to Rival Didi

Published: Mar. 24, 2026 5:35 p.m. GMT+8

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Alibaba's AI chat app Qwen announced its AI-powered ride-hailing feature on March 23. Photo: VCG

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Qwen rolled out a ride-hailing feature on Monday, intensifying competition with market leader Didi to integrate generative AI into daily transport services.

Users can now book rides, select vehicle types, schedule trips, and pay directly within the Qwen app. The service is powered by Alibaba’s mapping platform Amap. This upgrades an earlier integration introduced in December, which generated visual decision cards but required users to open the separate Amap application to complete a booking.

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Alibaba’s AI chatbot Qwen now offers full ride-hailing services, upgrading integration with Amap and allowing in-app booking, payment, and scheduling.
Rival Didi’s Xiaodi AI assistant translates user prompts into over 90 service tags, enhancing customized ride requests; both platforms offer memory for frequently used locations.
Qwen’s integration with Alibaba’s ecosystem helped it reach nearly 140 million orders and over 300 million monthly active users by February 2024.

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Who’s Who

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has integrated a ride-hailing feature into its AI chatbot Qwen, utilizing its mapping platform Amap. This allows users to book, schedule, and pay for rides directly within the Qwen app. Qwen, connected to Alibaba's ecosystem, also offers comprehensive travel commands and had nearly 140 million users placing orders through its app by the end of February.

Didi: Didi is a market leader in daily transport services, facing intensified competition from Alibaba's AI chatbot Qwen. Didi launched its own AI assistant, Xiaodi, which translates conversational prompts into localized service tags, prioritizing user comfort and specific needs like a "smooth ride" or "spacious interior." Xiaodi also features memory capabilities for frequented locations.

Amap: Amap is Alibaba's mapping platform, which powers the new ride-hailing feature within Qwen, Alibaba's AI chatbot. This integration allows users to book and pay for rides directly within the Qwen app. Amap had previously been integrated with Qwen for generating visual decision cards, but now enables full booking completion within Qwen.

Taobao: Taobao is mentioned as one of the platforms that Alibaba's AI chatbot, Qwen, integrated with in mid-January. This integration, along with others like Amap and Alipay, contributed to Qwen's rapid growth, leading to nearly 140 million users placing orders via its app by the end of February.

Fliggy: Fliggy is one of the platforms integrated with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s AI chatbot, Qwen. This integration, which occurred in mid-January, allows Fliggy to be part of Qwen's broader ecosystem, enabling users to execute comprehensive travel commands through the chatbot.

Alipay: Alipay is an online payment platform that has been integrated with Alibaba's AI chatbot, Qwen. This integration allows Qwen users to conduct various transactions, including booking rides and potentially other services, directly within the chatbot interface. This connectivity is part of a broader ecosystem approach by Alibaba.

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What Happened When

September 2025：: Didi initiated public testing of its AI assistant, Xiaodi.

December 2025：: Alibaba’s Qwen chatbot introduced an integration which generated visual decision cards for ride-hailing, but required users to complete bookings in the separate Amap app.

Mid-January 2026：: Qwen integrated with platforms including Taobao, Amap, Fliggy, and Alipay.

February 2026：: Qwen ran a Spring Festival campaign.

By the end of February 2026：: Nearly 140 million users had placed orders via Qwen’s app; monthly active users surpassed 300 million.

March 2026：: Didi launched its Xiaodi AI assistant within its main app.

Monday, March 23, 2026：: Alibaba’s Qwen rolled out a ride-hailing feature enabling users to book, schedule, and pay for rides entirely within the Qwen app.