Alibaba introduced AI glasses for $537 - ForkLog: cryptocurrencies, AI, singularity, future

# Alibaba introduced AI glasses for $537

Chinese corporation Alibaba has started selling its first smart glasses developed in-house with artificial intelligence — Qwen.

The Quark S1 model is equipped with translucent displays that overlay contextual information on top of the real image. The device also features cameras, microphones, and replaceable batteries designed for 24 hours of operation.

The glasses support features for simultaneous translation, note-taking during meetings, and interaction with a chatbot. For example, a user can take a picture of a product, and the device will display its price on Taobao.

Quark S1 glasses from Alibaba. Source: Alibaba. The gadget costs $537. There is also a simplified version, Quark G1, without micro-OLED displays. Both models run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon AR1 platform — a chip designed specifically for augmented reality glasses and AI tasks. The S1 is sold on Tmall from Alibaba, JD.com, Douyin from ByteDance, and in over 600 stores in 82 cities in China. International versions will be available next year. Some of them will be purchasable on platforms like AliExpress.

Alibaba's Bet on AI

The release of the new product is yet another step in Alibaba's strategic focus on artificial intelligence technologies. In November, the company rebranded its mobile application Tongyi, renaming it to Qwen and making it similar to ChatGPT.

The updated app attracted more than 10 million users in just a few days.

The CEO of Alibaba reported that users are showing “exceptional loyalty” to the new version of the product.

The tech giant has also integrated the Qwen package into the Quark browser, expanding its reach with a line of devices of the same name.

Image Generator and Investments

On November 27, Alibaba released Z-Image — an open model for generating “photorealistic” images “on the level” of Flux 2.

1/ 10 We are pleased to introduce Z-Image, an efficient 6-billion-parameter foundation model for image generation. Through systematic optimization, it proves that top-tier performance is achievable without relying on enormous model sizes, delivering strong results in… pic.twitter.com/OhUDL3PfSH

— Tongyi Lab (@Ali_TongyiLab) November 27, 2025

“Thanks to systematic optimization, it demonstrates that the highest performance is achievable without using models of enormous sizes. The neural network provides high results in photorealistic generation and bilingual text rendering, comparable to leading commercial models,” the company's announcement states.

Z-Image has 6 billion parameters and is capable of running “continuously” on graphics cards with 16 GB of video memory.

Z-IMAGE TURBO is a serious competitor to FLUX.2

A hyper-realistic, close-up portrait of a age 40 rugged warrior mixed heritage norwegian bearded axe warrior wearing a ragged cloak and cobbled armor, standing by a dragon . Natural Light. Shot on a Leica M6 with Kodak Portra… pic.twitter.com/2KvjmKRNkz

— Brent Lynch (@BrentLynch) November 26, 2025

“This makes advanced image generation technologies accessible to a wide audience,” the company emphasized.

The neural network is capable of recreating landmarks and urban landscapes based on textual descriptions, the developers reported.

The model supports rendering text in English and Chinese. Z-Image has also been trained in Russian, German, French, and Spanish; however, the system still makes errors in those languages.

The e-commerce giant plans to maintain its leadership among Chinese technology firms in terms of investments in artificial intelligence. The division responsible for AI and cloud services has shown double-digit revenue growth for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Alibaba Cloud reported a 34% year-on-year increase in revenue to $5.6 billion.

The growth rates of the AI division's revenue are comparable to those of American competitors — Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. Their figures increased by 40% and 33.5%, respectively.

The Boom of AI Glasses in China

In China, interest in smart glasses has significantly increased over the past year, especially those with artificial intelligence features. Many of them are developed by startups like Even Realities, which aim to rethink traditional devices.

From January to September 2025, 1.6 million such gadgets were sold, a third of which were from Xiaomi. If we include glasses with built-in displays, the figure will exceed 2 million units.

“Alibaba's entry into this market will bring a new dynamic to the competitive environment of the Chinese smart glasses market,” commented IDC Research Director Sophie Pan.

Let us remind you that in September, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced the Meta Ray-Ban Display - the first smart glasses with a built-in display. They can be controlled with hand gestures through a bracelet.