Alibaba AI models hit 3 billion downloads, passing Meta, Google
Qwen, Alibaba’s family of AI models, has open-sourced more than 460 models and its ecosystem has spawned 300,000-plus derivatives.
Alibaba Group Holding's open-weight Qwen AI models have amassed over 3 billion global downloads in the past half-year, surpassing Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. to claim the top spot as the world's leading artificial-intelligence model. Qwen's open-source ecosystem has produced more than 460 models, accompanied by 300,000+ derivative versions, according to Alibaba's statement.
Google held 418 million downloads, while Meta reached 227 million in 2026, as reported by Hugging Face Inc., an open-source AI hub. Open models can be downloaded, customized, and utilized as foundational blocks for novel AI products, serving as a barometer of which technologies are chosen by developers. This has positioned download and derivative-model figures as a key indicator of influence in the ongoing US-China AI competition, as Chinese developers like Alibaba promote affordable and adaptable models.
Qwen's ascent indicates that this strategy is spreading beyond China, with Qwen, Moonshot AI Inc., DeepSeek, and other Chinese AI model builders aiming to bridge the performance gap with closed models offered by US companies like OpenAI Inc. and Anthropic PBC. Despite export controls on chips and AI systems, such as the temporary ban on overseas access to Anthropic's Fable 5 model, Chinese competitors seem to be unaffected.
Alibaba's Qwen download data positions it as one of the largest foundations within the open AI ecosystem, as per the Hugging Face report. The Hangzhou-based cloud, e-commerce, and AI technology company is outpacing local rivals DeepSeek, Moonshot Kimi, and MiniMax, as well as US-based models. According to the report, Qwen has seamlessly integrated into the default workflows of developers when selecting models for fine-tuning and deployment.
A comprehensive model family fosters a self-reinforcing ecosystem: greater developer adoption leads to the creation of more derivative versions, which in turn attracts new users. Alibaba has fueled this cycle by disseminating Qwen via its cloud platform to enterprise clients across markets like Southeast Asia and Africa, granting it broader reach than many competitors.
US tech giants have responded with the release of new open AI models in recent weeks, intensifying the competition for developers.
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