Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, has unveiled an expanded suite of large language models and AI development tools, upgraded infrastructure offerings, and new support programs for global developers at its annual developer summit today.
These advancements aim to empower developers worldwide to build innovative AI applications more cost-effectively and drive a thriving global generative AI community.
“Alibaba Cloud is committed to delivering real value to global developers through cutting-edge AI models, enhanced cloud infrastructure, and accessible support programs,” said Dongliang Guo, Vice President of International Business, Head of International Products and Solutions, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “Together, we aim to spark more AI-driven innovations, benefiting startups, enterprises, and industries altogether across the globe.”
More Foundation Models and Development Tools for Developers
The latest Qwen models, Alibaba Cloud’s proprietary large language model family, including the Qwen2.5 series with sizes ranging from 7 billion to 72 billion parameters, are now accessible via APIs on its generative AI development platform, Model Studio, for global developers to use.
Additionally, developers can access multimodal AI models, including vision understanding models such as the Qwen-VL series, visual generation model Wanx2.1 (also known as Tongyi Wanxiang), and audio language model Qwen-Audio.
Developers can also leverage Tongyi Lingma, Alibaba Cloud’s proprietary AI coding assistant powered by the Qwen 2.5-coder model. The AI Programmer offers features such as code completion and optimization, debugging assistance, code snippet search and batch unit test generation. It provides developers an efficient and seamless coding experience, significantly enhancing productivity and creativity.
In addition to a broader range of models, global developers can access several new AI development tools on Model Studio. These tools include Workflow, which breaks down complex tasks into subtasks to enhance workflow control, and Agent, which supports multi-agent collaboration for planning and execution tasks.
Other tools, such as RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), which helps enhance the accuracy and reliability of generative AI models with external sources; Batch Reasoning, which generates responses simultaneously with multiple prompt inputs; AutoEval (Automated Model Evaluation), as well as model deployment and application observability services, will be available by the end of this month.
Alibaba Cloud Upgraded Infrastructure for AI Development
To provide robust computing to facilitate AI and other critical workloads, Alibaba Cloud revealed that its 9th Generation Enterprise Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance will be available in global markets starting in April this year.
The latest generation of ECS instances has notable performance enhancements compared to its previous iteration, including a 20% increase in computing efficiency.
Additionally, by accelerating networks through eRDMA (elastic Remote Direct Memory Access), its performance in supporting high-performance computing, search recommendations, and Redis databases can be further improved by up to 50%.
The cloud pioneer announced that its innovative Alibaba Cloud Container Compute Service (ACS) will be available for international customers starting in January 2025.
Designed for simplified and optimized workload deployment using container technology, the ACS integrates container services with underlying cloud computing resources, significantly reducing costs and technical complexity and enabling developers to focus on innovation rather than infrastructure management.
New GenAI Program to Spark Creativity
To foster innovation, Alibaba Cloud introduced the Alibaba Cloud GenAI Empowerment Program, a dedicated support program for global developers and startups leveraging its Qwen models to build generative AI applications.
Participants in the program can gain support, including free cloud credits, training workshops, invitations to tech shows and demo days, and product co-marketing opportunities. This program is designed to help developers and startups accelerate their generative AI projects while connecting with a broader ecosystem of innovators.
Global Developers and Customers Leveraging Qwen for Cutting-Edge Applications
Axcxept, a Japanese company specializing in AI products such as voice assistants, has developed an open-source, lightweight AI model called EZO based on Qwen 2.5 LLM. The EZO model outperforms state-of-the-art (SOTA) models in areas such as coding, information extraction, math, reasoning, roleplay, and writing in Japanese.
With low latency and robust performance, EZO is tailored to serve industries such as healthcare and public institutions in Japan, ensuring secure and efficient AI applications.
“Qwen 2.5 has significantly enhanced its ability to process Japanese, giving it a competitive edge over other models. With Axcxept’s proprietary training process, we have developed a Japanese LLM that delivers unmatched accuracy,” said Kazuya Hodatsu, CEO of Axcxept Inc.
OxValue.AI, a deep-tech venture from the University of Oxford, uses Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen-based multimodal AI models for AI-driven company valuation services. By processing and analyzing text and audio data related to financing, R&D, and operations, OxValue achieves precise and cost-efficient valuation assessments tailored to corporate clients.
“Processing diverse data sources is essential for our valuation services. With the support of Alibaba Cloud’s AI models, we’ve significantly improved the quality and efficiency of this process. By collaborating with Alibaba Cloud, we’re able to deliver greater value to our corporate clients,” said Professor Xiaolan Fu, Founder of OxValue.AI.
