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… href="https://36kr.com/p/3224908715539591">36Kr</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">RoboCT, which focuses on exoskeleton robotics and brain-computer interface (BCI) products, has completed a near RMB 100 million (USD 14 million) Series B funding round. The round was led by Wuxi Capital Group, with Haoyue Capital acting as financial advisor. RoboCT will channel the proceeds into R&amp;D for exoskeletons and BCI products, facility expansion, and global market development, with a focus on rehabilitation, elder care, and consumer applications. —<a href="https://36kr.com/p/3222526561422466">36Kr</a></li>
</ul>
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<h3>Volve Creative, RockFlow, Agibot, and more made recent headlines:</h3>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://volve.tokyo/">Volve Creative</a>, a Tokyo-based entertainment tech startup, raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding in a round that drew backing from Asu Capital Partners, MIXI, and Ken Soga.</li>
<li aria-level="1">RockFlow, a startup based in Singapore, raised USD 10 million in a Series A1 funding round. The funding came from a mix of new and existing investors, whose names remain undisclosed.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Agibot, a Shanghai-based robotics startup, reportedly raised a nine-figure RMB sum in a Series B funding round led by Chinese tech giant Tencent. The round also drew participation from Lanchi Ventures (formerly the China arm of BlueRun Ventures), Longcheer Technology, Wolong, and Zhuhai Huafa Group.</li>
</ul>
If there are any news or updates you'd like us to feature, get in touch with us at: <a href="mailto:hello@kr-asia.com">hello@kr-asia.com</a>.
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Deals in brief: Nul debuts with Wavemaker Impact backing, SkyeChip and Betterteem raise funding, Qualcomm snaps up VinAI’s generative AI unit, and more

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<a href="/company/alibaba">Alibaba</a> is reabsorbing a familiar name into its ranks: Chen Hang, better known in tech circles as Wuzhao. The e-commerce giant plans to buy back investor shares in HHO, the startup Chen founded in 2021, and reappoint him as CEO of DingTalk—Alibaba’s enterprise collaboration platform. Once the deal closes, current CEO Ye Jun will step aside and take on a broader role within the company.
For those who’ve followed Alibaba’s internal shuffles over the years, Chen’s return feels like a full-circle moment. He was the one who originally created DingTalk from scratch, growing it into one of China’s most widely used workplace apps. Before exiting Alibaba in 2021, he had served as CEO of DingTalk and held a senior post in its B2B operations.
Today, DingTalk claims more than 700 million users across China. It works with over 5,600 ecosystem partners, cutting across 20 sectors of the national economy and operating in 135 cities. Its suite of artificial intelligence tools, Alibaba says, sees over ten million uses per day.
When reached for comment, Alibaba confirmed the news to 36Kr.
<h3>From intern to founder, and back again</h3>
Chen’s history with Alibaba dates back to 1999, when he interned at the company. But instead of joining its founding team, he took a detour—spending 11 years working in Japan. Despite the distance, he stayed close to key figures like Jack Ma and Eddie Wu. In fact, it was Wu who eventually convinced him to return in 2010 to help shape Taobao’s product strategy.
Chen’s early efforts included stints on eTao and Laiwang, both of which didn’t pan out. But in 2015, he assembled a new team and took another swing—this time with DingTalk. That bet paid off, turning the platform into a core part of Alibaba’s B2B stack.
By 2019, DingTalk was rolled into Alibaba’s cloud intelligence unit in a company-wide reorganization led by then CEO Daniel Zhang. Chen was reassigned to a group-level post under Zhang Jianfeng. A year later, in 2020, Alibaba went a step further—integrating DingTalk more deeply with its cloud services, a move aimed at capturing more enterprise clients. Chen stepped down as CEO to become special assistant to Daniel Zhang.
The integration was logical on paper. But DingTalk’s goal—user growth—didn’t always align with Alibaba Cloud’s mandate to boost revenue. Tensions between scale and profit started to show.
Then, in 2021, Chen left. Along with a handful of DingTalk veterans, he launched HHO, a startup geared toward global expansion and consumer-facing products. Its portfolio was eclectic: wireless earbuds, pet supplies, and exploratory efforts in Japan. Its investors included Vision Plus Capital.
But the integration of DingTalk into Alibaba Cloud didn’t last. By August 2023, DingTalk was spun out again. A few months later, in November, Alibaba pulled the plug on Alibaba Cloud’s IPO altogether.
Those decisions foreshadowed deeper changes inside the company. After Daniel Zhang stepped down, Wu stepped in and wasted no time redrawing priorities. He ditched legacy plans—like taking Alibaba Cloud public—and began pushing for younger leadership and a renewed emphasis on product.
AI became a central focus. On March 13, Alibaba rolled out a new version of its Quark app, a consumer tool that blends AI-assisted research, search, and task execution into one interface. It made waves both in tech circles and among everyday users. The update signaled Alibaba’s intention to go beyond backend infrastructure and put AI into the hands of consumers.
Quark’s redesign is being led by Wu Jia, a rising product lead within the company.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3230074062060931">article</a> was written by Deng Yongyi for 36Kr.

Alibaba brings back DingTalk founder Chen Hang to lead platform’s next chapter

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The Roomba reigned as a pioneer in robot vacuums, but the US leader in the sector is facing a major challenge from Chinese rivals with advanced features.
Beijing-based manufacturer Roborock has developed a vacuum that comes equipped with an arm that can pick up objects that weigh up to 300 grams.
The robot, unveiled in January at the CES electronics trade show in Las Vegas, uses artificial intelligence to detect fallen objects, such toys or loose socks, then uses the arm to place the article in the appropriate receptacle.
The Roborock machine is programmed to recognize 108 types of objects while users can add up to 50 more customizable objects with an app. The product is set for worldwide release this year.
Such innovations have taken a toll on the Roomba. Global market share for the brand fell to 22% last year from 35% in 2015, according to Euromonitor.
In a quarterly report released on March 12, Roomba maker iRobot warned of "substantial doubt" about the company's ability to survive for the next 12 months.
Chinese players are also on the offensive in Japan, where Roomba has a 70% market share. Ecovacs Robotics is selling a product equipped with a mopping function and automatic dust collector for JPY 43,780 (USD 295).
A Roomba with similar functions sells for JPY 59,200 (USD 398.9). Pressured by the price competition, iRobot's sales in Japan fell 34% in the fourth quarter in 2024 compared with a year earlier.
iRobot sells the Roomba in Japan under a "designated price system" that does not allow retailers to offer discounts. The idea was to maintain brand value and secure profit, but the strategy has backfired.
"If there are no differences in capabilities, then it's difficult to display products at a designated price," said an employee at a home electronics retailer.
There have been moves to replace Roombas with Chinese-made alternatives on store shelves. Chinese manufacturers in turn are launching new products in Japan, seizing an opportunity to capture market share.
Xiaomi, the smartphone maker, will sell robot vacuums at Xiaomi stores opening in Japan this year.
China's Dreame Technology released a product equipped with foldable legs in the Japanese market in March. When the robot approaches an obstacle, it can extend its legs up to six centimeters to bypass the object.
This enables Dreame's robots to clean multiple rooms in one round. The company plans to tap demand among smaller homes.
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Dreame's model sells for JPY 229,800 (USD 1,548.4), which is more expensive than a top-of-the-line Roomba at JPY 197,800 (USD 1,332.8), but "we'll spread the evolution of robot vacuum cleaners among Japanese consumers," said Akiyoshi Hamada, sales director at Dreame's Japanese subsidiary.
iRobot, which was founded by three members of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, developed the Roomba using tech inspired by mine-clearing robots.
The devices added features, such as a wet-wipe function and the ability to map out the layout of a room. But iRobot has fallen behind Chinese competitors when it comes to new innovation.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/Chinese-robot-vacuums-leave-Roomba-in-the-dust-with-arms-and-legs">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

Chinese robot vacuums leave Roomba in the dust with arms and legs

… malls and flagship stores to reinforce its premium positioning.
Amer Sports has stated that as Chinese consumers become more receptive to emerging performance sneaker brands, Salomon is well-positioned for accelerated growth. The company expects Salomon’s sales to maintain double-digit growth annually.
However, competition is heating up. Brands like On and Hoka, which also target the middle-class consumer segment, are expanding aggressively in China. They share overlapping customer bases and retail channels with Salomon, making the landscape increasingly competitive.
In terms of brand recognition, Salomon still has some ground to cover before catching up to Arc’teryx. But it has time to close the gap.
One clear sign of its growing influence? After the holiday season, Zhang noticed more of her colleagues sporting Salomon sneakers.
“I just hope it doesn’t make the raffles even harder,” she said.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3205758038974979">article</a> was written by Li Xiaoxia for 36Kr.

How Salomon won over China’s middle-class fashion scene

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… recent years.
Since the autumn of 2024, China has pursued what appears to be an ambitious target of reversing the real estate market's downturn and stabilizing it. To that end, China should have presented a radical plan to resolve the property crisis at this year's NPC.
Without such a plan, the negative effects of the property crisis on the overall economy will only drag on, not for one to two years but for five years and possibly even longer. In a worst-case scenario, China will face the same fate as post-bubble Japan. In fact, China is already teetering on the brink of a deep deflation.
In the reading of the government work report on March 5, premier Li acknowledged that there are deep economic woes, including sluggish consumption, struggling companies, and financially strapped local governments, as well as the property market slump.
He also unveiled some aggressive measures that have not been seen for many years, such as raising the budget deficit to around 4% of GDP this year from last year's target of 3% and boosting spending significantly.
But Li missed a great opportunity to explain and emphasize those measures to domestic and foreign journalists and convey, to people both at home and abroad, the sense of crisis he has over the ailing economy.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/Analysis-Will-China-face-same-fate-as-post-bubble-Japan">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

Analysis: Will China face same fate as post-bubble Japan?

Hong Kong

Pop Mart’s global push pays off as revenue doubles in 2024

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… Chagee’s marketing expenses surged from RMB 73.6 million (USD 10.3 million) in 2022 to RMB 2.6 billion (USD 364 million) in 2023, and then to RMB 11 billion (USD 1.5 billion) in 2024. These figures represented 15%, 5.6%, and 8.9% of the company’s net income for the respective years, amounting to a total of over RMB 14 billion (USD 2 billion) over three years.
In comparison, Mixue’s marketing expense ratio stood at 5.7%, 6.5%, and 6.4% from 2022–2024, while GoodMe’s was 4.8% and 4.4% in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Chagee’s aggressive marketing quickly elevated its brand awareness beyond its store count.
This high-profile approach extended to Chagee’s store format strategy. While Heytea was downsizing its store footprint, Chagee took the opposite route, emulating Starbucks’ focus on enhancing the in-store experience by opening larger stores. A typical Chagee store spans 60–80 square meters, and flagship stores in major cities can exceed 100 square meters. To enhance the sensory experience, Chagee even installs tea aroma diffusers in its stores.
Most of these stores are located in China’s most economically active regions. As of December 31, 2024, Chagee operated 696 stores in tier-one cities and 3,110 stores in emerging tier-one and tier-two cities. Notably, Shanghai, home to 245 stores, had the highest store count, with 184 new stores added in 2024 alone.
Chagee’s meticulous approach to store location is also noteworthy. When Chagee expanded into Hong Kong six months ago, a local real estate professional told 36Kr:
<blockquote>“Chagee only wants the best commercial districts and dine-in stores. It’s even willing to lease prime streetfront locations in space-constrained Hong Kong just to create a showroom.”</blockquote>
Chagee’s marketing strategy has always been distinctive. Unlike typical F&amp;B companies, Chagee invested heavily in brand building early on, with founder Zhang personally involved in managing the brand’s marketing initiatives. One of the most notable moves was a switch in packaging style from traditional Chinese aesthetics to a luxury-inspired look.
“In hindsight, Chagee placed the right bet by pouring resources into marketing before achieving scale,” a tea industry investor told 36Kr.
<h3>Hidden risks, new narratives</h3>
For the past few years, growth has been the term most associated with Chagee. From the first quarter 2023 to the second quarter of 2024, Chagee’s same-store GMV growth consistently exceeded 35%, peaking at a staggering 156.9% in the final quarter of 2023.
But now, the numbers tell a different story.
The prospectus reveals that starting from the third quarter last year, Chagee’s same-store GMV growth slowed significantly, with YoY growth slipping to just 1.5%. By Q4, this metric had even dipped into negative territory, recording a rare 18.4% decline.
Store saturation is a key factor behind this deceleration. Chagee’s stores are heavily concentrated in the more affluent southern regions of China, particularly tier-one and tier-two cities. According to Canyan Data, Chagee has the highest number of stores in Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, with 617, 609, and 574 stores, respectively, accounting for 10.13% of the total store network.
The prospectus data further reveals that in Q4 2024, Chagee’s GMV in eastern and southern China—its most saturated regions—saw quarter-on-quarter declines of 27.3% and 14.7%, respectively.
Adding to the pressure, competitors are circling, eager to claim a share of Chagee’s business. In the second half of 2024, Luckin Coffee introduced <a href="https://kr-asia.com/is-luckin-coffees-new-tea-beverage-just-a-chagee-dupe">“Qingqing Moli,”</a> a product strikingly similar to Chagee’s Boya Juexian in both taste and ingredients but priced significantly lower. The product was even dubbed the RMB 9.9 version of the Chagee drink by the public.
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Falling same-store GMV growth threatens to prolong the payback period for franchisees—a concern that is amplified for high-investment brands like Chagee. Franchise fees for Chagee stores are already among the highest in the industry, and with its preference for larger stores, expenses related to rent, labor, and equipment are significantly higher. According to 36Kr, opening a Chagee store costs around RMB 600,000 (USD 84,000), but the price tag for a third-generation store can climb as high as RMB 1.5 million (USD 210,000).
That said, Chagee’s rapid store expansion and relatively short operational history mean that the company has maintained an exceptionally low closure rate. In 2023 and 2024, the closure rate was 0.5% and 1.5%, respectively.
After years of rapid domestic growth, Chagee is now eyeing international markets. As early as 2018, the company established an overseas division. According to the prospectus, part of the proceeds from the IPO will be used to invest in technology, product innovation, and expansion of store networks in China and abroad, as well as to build an international supply chain.
Currently, most of Chagee’s overseas stores are concentrated in Southeast Asia and the US. As of December 31, 2024, Chagee operated 156 stores in Southeast Asia. 148 of them are located in Malaysia, partly fueled by leveraging the star power of local sports icon Lee Chong Wei as a brand ambassador. Meanwhile, Chagee’s first US store is set to officially open in Los Angeles this spring.
Today, Chagee, with RMB 12.41 billion (USD 1.7 billion) in annual revenue, has just secured a seat at the table among leading tea brands. Yet, freshly brewed tea—a trend-focused product—faces the need for constant reinvention. Whether Chagee’s tea lattes can achieve enduring success remains uncertain, and whether its premium pricing strategy can sustain growth is another question. The real challenges for Chagee lie ahead.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3222541134285696">article</a> was written by Zhong Yixuan for 36Kr.

Chagee files for US IPO after a blockbuster 2024, but challenges loom

Chagee

… partners?</h3>
JF: Yes, we’ve established partnerships in the US, Hong Kong, and Japan. This year, we plan to expand into the Chinese market and have already initiated talks with several optical retail chains, AI companies, and distributors.
<h3>36Kr: What will these partnerships look like?</h3>
JF: During the development process, we collaborate closely with eyewear manufacturers, prioritizing their role in our strategy. This ensures that our products align with market demands and allows us to integrate sales channels well before the official launch.
<h3>36Kr: How will Solos be priced in China?</h3>
JF: In the US and Hong Kong, Solos smart glasses are priced about 20–30% higher than regular glasses. We expect to adopt a similar pricing strategy in China.
<h3>36Kr: China’s smart glasses market has become increasingly competitive, with numerous brands entering the space. As a newcomer, how will Solos differentiate itself?</h3>
JF: Right now, many companies are entering the smart glasses industry, giving the impression that the barrier to entry is low. Some brands simply purchase off-the-shelf hardware, reverse-engineer it, and start manufacturing their own versions.
China’s hardware manufacturing capabilities are indeed strong, but true technological depth takes time to build. Many of these companies don’t have the foundational expertise to achieve large-scale, high-quality production in the long run.
While some brands quickly bring products to market by copying existing designs, they often lack meaningful innovation. In some cases, a handful of engineers work for just a few months, spending a few million RMB to launch a product. For Solos, these copycat products aren’t a major concern—they don’t have the same level of technical refinement or long-term vision.
In high-tech industries, deep expertise is what truly matters. Take audio technology, for example—it’s crucial for a device like smart glasses. If the sound quality isn’t good, the entire user experience suffers.
One of Solos’ key innovations is a proprietary audio technology called Whisper. It ensures that users hear crystal-clear voice output without interference from background noise. This technology is one of our biggest advantages, enabling superior voice recognition and audio performance in all kinds of environments.
<h3>36Kr: The tech industry evolves rapidly. From your experience, what are some constants that remain unchanged?</h3>
JF: Ultimately, technology exists to serve human needs. If you look back 20 or 30 years, no one could have predicted the level of advancement we have today. Back then, most devices were bulky, consumed a lot of power, and generated significant heat. The technology of that era simply couldn’t meet modern expectations.
For example, I recognized early on that people needed more efficient, power-saving electronics, which led to the development of HBT. Without HBT, mobile phones might still require external antennas to function—we wouldn’t have the compact, sleek devices we use today.
So while specific technologies will always change, one thing remains the same: true innovation is about aligning technology with real-world human needs. That’s the driving force behind every major technological breakthrough.
<h3>36Kr: It’s surprising to hear an engineer from the US National Academy of Engineering emphasize the importance of human-centered design.</h3>
JF: Solos is built on that very philosophy. Last year, I met with a vice president from a major Japanese camera company. I showed him our Solos smart glasses, and his response was: “These glasses have soul.”
Technology shouldn’t just be about cold, mechanical components—it should have creativity, artistry, and purpose. Think about the painting studios in Shenzhen—anyone can create a painting, but what truly matters is whether the artwork has soul, whether it moves people.
The same applies to technology. A product isn’t just a tool. It should be designed with thoughtfulness and a sense of artistry. That’s what makes it valuable and meaningful.
<h3>36Kr: As a veteran entrepreneur with decades of experience, what advice do you have for young founders?</h3>
JF: The most important thing is to have a clear dream. That dream is what will keep you going, no matter how difficult the journey gets. If you stay committed to your vision, the funding and resources you need will follow.
At its core, true entrepreneurship is about persistence—it’s about sticking to your dream through every challenge and breakthrough.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3200476072443521">article</a> was written by Tian Zhe for 36Kr.

At 81, John Fan is still inventing. His next bet? AI-powered smart glasses

When most people think of generative <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a>, they picture something powerful but distant—servers humming in faraway data centers, parsing questions and firing back answers through the cloud. <a href="/company/alibaba-cloud">Alibaba Cloud’s</a> latest release takes a different route.
The Chinese tech giant has released a new AI model, Qwen 2.5-Omni-7B, that combines text, image, video, and audio understanding into a compact, deployable system. Comprising 7 billion parameters, the model is part of the company’s Qwen series but is designed to run on edge devices like smartphones, laptops, and other consumer hardware.
Despite its size, Qwen 2.5-Omni-7B functions as a full-spectrum multimodal model. It can process input across four formats and generate real-time responses in both speech and text. The idea is to make it small enough to fit on a phone, but capable of conversing about what it sees and hears.
At the heart of this model is what Alibaba calls the “Thinker-Talker” architecture. The “Thinker” handles language generation, while the “Talker” focuses on producing natural speech. This separation is meant to prevent one mode from interfering with the other, a common issue in multimodal models that juggle too many tasks in a single pipeline.
Other design elements work behind the scenes to improve fluency and timing. A technique called time-aligned multimodal rotary position embedding (TMRoPE) is said to better align video frames with audio timelines, so the model can, for example, describe what’s happening in a video with more accurate timing. Blockwise streaming breaks down long audio inputs and processes them incrementally to maintain responsiveness.
<figure id="attachment_152327" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-152327" style="width: 720px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Overview.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-152327" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Overview-1024x552.webp" alt="Graphic breaks down how Qwen 2.5-Omni-7B handles multimodal interactions using separate “Thinker” and “Talker” modules for reasoning and speech generation, supported by vision and audio encoders that allow it to “see” and “hear” inputs in real time." width="720" height="388" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Overview-1024x552.webp 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Overview-300x162.webp 300w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Overview-768x414.webp 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Overview-1536x828.webp 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Overview.webp 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-152327" class="wp-caption-text">Graphic breaks down how Qwen 2.5-Omni-7B handles multimodal interactions using separate “Thinker” and “Talker” modules for reasoning and speech generation, supported by vision and audio encoders that allow it to “see” and “hear” inputs in real time. Graphic and header photo source: Alibaba.</figcaption></figure>
On paper, the result is a model that supports end-to-end use across multiple input types, from voice commands to visual analysis. According to Alibaba, Qwen 2.5-Omni-7B performs well on benchmarks such as OmniBench, which evaluates models’ ability to reason across modalities. It also demonstrates proficiency in in-context learning and shows improvements in voice quality after reinforcement learning tuning—a process that reportedly reduced issues like misalignment, pronunciation errors, and awkward pauses.
<figure id="attachment_152328" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-152328" style="width: 720px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Benchmarks.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-152328" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Benchmarks-1024x780.webp" alt="Diagram compares Qwen 2.5-Omni-7B against other models on key benchmarks across multimodal reasoning, audio, image, video, and speech generation tasks." width="720" height="549" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Benchmarks-1024x780.webp 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Benchmarks-300x229.webp 300w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Benchmarks-768x585.webp 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Benchmarks-1536x1170.webp 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Alibaba-Qwen2.5-Omni-7B-Benchmarks.webp 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-152328" class="wp-caption-text">Diagram compares Qwen 2.5-Omni-7B against other models on key benchmarks across multimodal reasoning, audio, image, video, and speech generation tasks. Graphic source: Alibaba.</figcaption></figure>
Alibaba has pointed to potential use cases that include real-time guidance for visually impaired users, cooking assistants that can interpret ingredients shown on camera, and customer service bots that engage through voice. The throughline is proximity, running sophisticated AI close to the user without having to ping the cloud.
There’s a broader strategy in play too. Alibaba has now open-sourced more than 200 generative models, including Qwen 2.5-VL and Qwen 2.5-1M. The Omni-7B version is available through GitHub, Hugging Face, and Alibaba’s ModelScope platform. These releases build out the Qwen 2.5 line, following the recent debut of Qwen 2.5-Max.
The release reflects a trend among AI developers to optimize for compactness without cutting capability. And embedding real-time multimodal intelligence into an edge-friendly model brings the technology closer to where it’s likely to be used most—on devices in people’s hands.

Alibaba's new open-source AI can think, talk, and run on a phone

Foundation and Large Models