Alibaba Group's release of an artificial intelligence (AI) reasoning model, which it said was on par with global hit DeepSeek's R1, drove its Hong Kong-listed shares more than 8% higher on Thursday.

Alibaba developed QwQ-32B through two training sessions. The first session focused on teaching the model math and coding skills. To support the learning process, Alibaba set up a server that ran the code QwQ-32B produced during training and checked it for errors.

The Hong Kong-listed shares of Alibaba Group surged more than 8% on Thursday following the release of a new reasoning model that the company said was on par with global hit DeepSeek's R1. Qwen, the e-commerce leader's artificial intelligence unit,

Alibaba launched new reasoning model comparable to DeepSeek's R1, pledged increased support for AI in China, and committed $53B to cloud and AI infrastructure.

It reflects the broader competitiveness of China’s frontier AI ecosystem,” says Scott Singer, a visiting scholar in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the

B, its latest artificial intelligence reasoning model, claiming it outperforms OpenAI and Chinese startup DeepSeek. Following the announcement, Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares closed 8% higher, boosting the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index.

New AI contender. Chinese companies are continuing to make big strides in artificial intelligence, as Alibaba unveiled its latest reasoning model with fewer parameters than existi