Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares rose nearly 2% in pre-market trading after the company unveiled new Qwen AI smart glasses. The launch is part of a push to make wearables an entry point to its AI services.
Alibaba's U.S.-listed shares rose nearly 2% in pre-market trading on Wednesday. The Chinese tech company had unveiled a new generation of Qwen AI smart glasses, priced from 2,999 yuan ($450).
Pricing against Meta's Ray-Ban glasses
Alibaba detailed the Qwen Glasses N1 series at an event in Hangzhou on Tuesday. The 2,999 yuan starting price comes before discounts and is no lower than that of the Ray-Ban smart glasses from industry leader Meta Platforms, which shows Alibaba is competing on quality and features rather than price.
However, Alibaba shares the same goal as Meta. Both want to turn smart glasses into an entry point for their AI tools and agents. Last month, Meta added a simplified, camera-free model priced at $349, designed mainly for use with its new Muse AI assistant.
Cameras, battery and AI features
The new glasses have improved 50-megapixel cameras and sensors, said Wu Jianjun, general manager of Qwen AI hardware products. A Pro edition priced at 3,499 yuan adds eye-tracking functions, he said.
Alibaba said one charge gives 25 hours of standby time or nine hours of music playback. Users can speak to the AI agent through bone-conduction microphones, and the glasses also support shopping, payments and health tracking.
The glasses arrive roughly a year after the first edition in November and connect more closely to Alibaba's Qwen AI assistant. Last month, Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu repeated the company's ambition to build AI across every layer, from large language models and chatbot apps to AI chips and hardware.
Source: Investing.com
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