Alibaba to integrate Qwen AI with Taobao, launch agentic shopping | Technology News
2 min readNew DelhiMay 10, 2026 09:51 AM Alibaba is preparing to unveil the integration of its AI platform Qwen and online marketplace Taobao, a move that seeks to drive shopping with conversations rather than keyword searches, according to a source familiar with the decision.
The move will enable consumers to browse, compare and purchase items via the Qwen app chatting with the artificial intelligence agent, rather than manually navigating product lings.
The Qwen app will have access to the entire Taobao and Tmall catalog of over 4 billion products, backed a “skills library” capable of managing logics and after-sales services. It will also offer shopping recommendations based on users’ order hory and shopping preferences.
Inside Taobao, Alibaba will launch a Qwen-powered AI shopping assant, which includes tools for virtual try-ons and 30-day price tracking.
Alibaba’s push into AI-driven shopping highlights a gap between Chinese and Western e-commerce platforms; China’s model allows AI to be embedded directly into live transactions. In the U.S., platforms are more fragmented: Amazon has used AI to improve shopping within its marketplace but remains cautious about full autonomy. Canada’s Shopify allows the use of external AI agents rather than running an integrated consumer AI platform.
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