Alibaba opens Qwen AI ecosystem to third-party agents for daily life services

On Wednesday, Alibaba revealed it will allow third-party partners' agents to access Qwen's ecosystem, effectively turning the chatbot into a digital assistant for daily tasks. Among the initial companies trialing these agent features are KFC, Luckin Coffee, Mixue Group, and China Eastern Airlines. Users can ask Qwen to handle tasks such as ordering a chicken burger from the nearest KFC, with the agent finding the location, applying discounts, and estimating pickup times. Brands can tailor agents for interactive services and send proactive reminders. For instance, China Eastern Airlines' agent offers itinerary suggestions, while Luckin Coffee's AI recommends pre-ordering to sidestep peak hours. Fan Zhang, who leads the Qwen app ecosystem initiative, noted that the app now supports over 100 million daily interactions for lifestyle services through various integrated agents. This development coincides with Tencent's plans for a competing WeChat agent, heightening the rivalry in China's AI assistant sector.