Alibaba unveils its first AI glasses, taking on Meta directly in the wearables race
Retail and tech giant Alibaba launched its first consumer-ready, AI-powered smart glasses on Thursday, marking its entrance into the growing wearables market.
Announced back in July, the Quark AI glasses just went on sale in the Chinese retailer’s home market, with two versions currently available: the S1, starting at 3,799 Chinese yuan (~$536), and the G1, at 1,899 yuan (~$268) — a considerably lower price than Meta’s $799 Ray-Ban Display glasses, released in September.
The gadget — complete with translucent display lenses, cameras, microphones, and swappable batteries — is integrated with Qwen AI models (Alibaba’s version of ChatGPT, per CNBC) and linked via the company’s revamped Qwen app, allowing users to control the device with their voice.
While adoption remains relatively limited, the smart glasses space has been dominated by Meta’s efforts, though tech giants like Apple, Google, and Snap have also all made forays into augmented reality wearables. Now, following strong Q2 results and the relaunch of its chatbot earlier this week, Alibaba is embedding AI into its consumer products, not content with being China’s leading cloud service and an e-commerce giant.
Though still small, the wearables sector is growing rapidly, CNBC writes, with shipments of AI glasses expected to exceed more than 10 million units by 2026, double this year’s count, according to a forecast from Omdia.
The gadget — complete with translucent display lenses, cameras, microphones, and swappable batteries — is integrated with Qwen AI models (Alibaba’s version of ChatGPT, per CNBC) and linked via the company’s revamped Qwen app, allowing users to control the device with their voice.
While adoption remains relatively limited, the smart glasses space has been dominated by Meta’s efforts, though tech giants like Apple, Google, and Snap have also all made forays into augmented reality wearables. Now, following strong Q2 results and the relaunch of its chatbot earlier this week, Alibaba is embedding AI into its consumer products, not content with being China’s leading cloud service and an e-commerce giant.
Though still small, the wearables sector is growing rapidly, CNBC writes, with shipments of AI glasses expected to exceed more than 10 million units by 2026, double this year’s count, according to a forecast from Omdia.
