Alibaba announced plans to release a pair of smart glasses powered by its AI models. Quark AI glasses are the first entry in Alibaba’s smart glasses product line.
Alibaba
Alibaba’s artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses went on sale Thursday as the Chinese tech giant looks to shift its focus to consumer AI in an increasingly competitive market.
Quark AI Glasses, First announced in JulyComes in two variants – the S1, which starts at 3,799 Chinese Yuan ($536) and the G1 at 1,899 Yuan.
The tech giant has integrated its Qwen AI models — Alibaba’s version of ChatGPT — with the device which also links to its newly launched Qwen app. This means users can use voice control to get the glasses to perform tasks.
The lenses of the glasses are effectively the screen and the device has a camera built into the frame. The main difference between the S1 and G1 is the display, Alibaba said.
The company said some of the features include on-the-fly translation, AI-generated meeting notes and the ability to ask questions to virtual assistants. Users take pictures of the product using the camera in the lens, and the device will then show the price of that product on Taobao, Alibaba’s main shopping app in China.
Like other technology companies like Alibaba, the US giant MetaThe bet is that smart glasses could be the next big consumer device after the smartphone.
In September, Meta unveiled this $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display GlassesThe social media company’s first consumer-ready smart glasses with a built-in display. Users can control the device through hand gestures with a special wristband.
Alibaba’s glasses will initially go on sale in China and compete with local rivals including consumer electronics maker Xiaomi and startup Xreal.
The smart glasses market is still small but growing rapidly. By 2026, shipments of AI glasses are expected to exceed 10 million units, doubling from 2025, Omdia predicts.
For Alibaba, Chashma is its latest play in the consumer AI market as it looks to build on its recent successes. The company’s ChatGPT-style Qwen app received 10 million downloads in its first week of public beta launch. Meanwhile, Alibaba’s cloud computing business, where it books most of its AI-related revenue, Growth momentum in the last quarter.
The Hangzhou, headquartered company is one of the leaders in China’s AI space, and is aggressively investing in AI with rival giants such as Baidu and Tencent, and Aggressively launching new models.