Alibaba takes on Meta, Xiaomi with Quark AI smartglasses

Chinese e-commerce giant

Alibaba

has unveiled its Quark AI Glasses, signaling its entry into the smart wearable product category. These AI-powered

smart glasses

will run on Alibaba's proprietary Qwen large language model and its

AI assistant

, Quark, and are slated for launch in China by the end of 2025.As per a report by CNBC, Alibaba – a significant player in China's burgeoning AI sector – has been developing new models to rival Western counterparts like OpenAI. The company views smart glasses as the next major computing frontier, alongside smartphones, the report said.The Quark AI assistant, which received an update earlier this year, is currently available as an app in China, and this new hardware serves as a strategic move to broaden its distribution.

Alibaba Quark AI Glasses features

Alibaba has confirmed that its new glasses will support a range of functionalities, including

hands-free calling

, music streaming, real-time language translation and meeting transcription. A built-in camera will also be a key feature.

Alibab aims to leverage its ecosystem, stating that users will be able to utilise navigation services, make payments via its affiliate Ant Group's Alipay, and even compare prices on its e-commerce platform, Taobao, all through the glasses.The Quark AI Glasses position Alibaba in direct competition with Meta's smart glasses (developed with Ray-Ban) and Chinese consumer electronics firm Xiaomi, which also released its own AI glasses earlier this year.Meanwhile, Google is also planning to release a pair of Android-powered smart glasses in 2026, in collaboration with Samsung. These glasses will be part of Google's Android XR platform and will focus on features like live translation, memory recall and navigation.The company said it is working with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to create stylish glasses and will work with Kering Eyewear to bring more options to users.