Forget DeepSeek, OpenAI, and Claude: for business users, Alibaba's Qwen beats them all

DeepSeek upended tech markets with the release of their free, open-sourced AI, which score at parity with top models from the US. Shortly thereafter, Alibaba released Qwen 2.5, a large-language model targeted to business users across the world.

Tech analysts took the models apart and compared them, head-to-head, and concluded that Qwen 2.5 will dominate in Asia, and across small- and medium-sized businesses who are budget conscious, but require a strong mix of technical capability and cost.

As with DeepSeek, our biggest tech companies will strongly pressure Western governments to ban the use of Qwen across North America and Europe.

Resources and links:

Tom's Guide, I tested DeepSeek vs Qwen 2.5 with 7 prompts — here’s the winner
https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/i-tested-deepseek-vs-qwen-2-5-with-7-prompts-heres-the-winner

Reuters, Alibaba releases AI model it says surpasses DeepSeek
https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/alibaba-releases-ai-model-it-claims-surpasses-deepseek-v3-2025-01-29/

The AI Wars: ChatGPT vs. Alibaba Qwen vs. DeepSeek – Who Wins the Future?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-wars-chatgpt-vs-alibaba-qwen-deepseek-who-wins-future-atul-yadav-xljwc/

ChatGPT vs DeepSeek R1 vs Qwen 2.5 Max : Ultimate AI Showdown
https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/chatgpt-vs-deepseek-vs-qwen/

Qwen 2.5 Max better than DeepSeek, beats ChatGPT in coding, costs 10x less than Claude 3.5
https://www.digit.in/features/general/qwen-25-max-better-than-deepseek-beats-chatgpt-in-coding-costs-10x-less-than-claude-35.html

Alibaba vs. Amazon: The Differences and Benefits for Sellers
https://www.junglescout.com/resources/articles/alibaba-vs-amazon/

The Difference Between Alibaba and Amazon: How Alibaba’s B2B Platform Works for Distributors
https://distributionstrategy.com/the-difference-between-alibaba-and-amazon-how-alibabas-b2b-platform-works-for-distributors/

Meet Alibaba's Qwen 2.5, an AI model claiming to beat both DeepSeek and OpenAI's ChatGPT
https://mashable.com/article/alibaba-qwen-2-5-ai-model-deepseek-chatgpt

Alibaba (BABA) financial reports and quotes
https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/BABA?qsearchterm=baba

Blooomberg, DeepSeek Challenges Everyone’s Assumptions About AI Costs
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-28/deepseek-ai-platform-brings-a-1-trillion-market-reckoning-on-cost

Announcing The Stargate Project
https://openai.com/index/announcing-the-stargate-project/

Closing scene, Xin’anjiang, Zhejiang