Alibaba Unveils Its First AI Glasses, Entering China’s Wearable Intelligence War
Forget smartphones. The next frontier of AI is sitting on your face.
At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Alibaba Group officially entered the smart glasses race, previewing its first-ever AI-powered wearable, dubbed the Quark AI glasses.
This marks the tech giant’s debut in China’s increasingly competitive smart wearable market — one already crowded with players like Rokid and Xreal.
The announcement comes amid Alibaba’s broader push to embed its Qwen AI model series into both hardware and software, positioning Quark as the company's flagship step into a post-smartphone era of ambient computing.
Designed for Real Use, Not Just Hype
Unlike many AR gimmicks, the Quark glasses are engineered with real-world utility in mind:
- Dual OS: They run both Android and a Real-Time Operating System for instant responsiveness.
- Qualcomm AR1 Chip: Built for smart glasses, optimized for low-latency AI tasks.
- Slim Hardware: 40% smaller temples and a thinner frame than industry standards.
According to Song Gang, head of smart terminals at Alibaba’s Intelligent Information business group:
“AI glasses will become the most important form of wearable intelligence – they’ll be another pair of eyes and ears for humans.”
Function Meets Ecosystem
More than just hardware, Quark is designed to slot seamlessly into Alibaba’s existing consumer platforms:
- Scan to Pay with Alipay, developed by Alibaba affiliate Ant Group
- Visual Price Checks on Taobao — scan an item, get an instant product match
- Real-Time Navigation via Amap, Alibaba’s mapping service
In short: e-commerce, payments, and real-world data fused into a face-worn assistant.
One Piece of a $53 Billion AI Push
The Quark AI glasses are the latest manifestation of Alibaba’s US$53 billion investment into AI infrastructure, announced earlier this year.
That push includes:
- Revamping Quark, once a cloud tool, into an “all-in-one AI assistant”
- Reorganizing internal teams to accelerate both AI applications and core models
- Partnerships with AR players like RayNeo to expand cross-device AI deployments
Launch Timeline
Alibaba confirmed the product has completed development and is slated for official release later this year, though no fixed launch date was provided.
TL;DR:
- Alibaba reveals Quark AI glasses at WAIC Shanghai
- Combines Snapdragon AR1 chip, dual OS, and thinner-than-standard design
- Integrates with Taobao, Alipay, and Amap for practical everyday use
- Part of Alibaba’s $53B commitment to AI hardware and software innovation
- Launch expected by end of 2025
Smartphones made AI mobile. Quark aims to make it wearable.
And Alibaba just placed its first big bet on that future.