From chatbots to replays: Alibaba rolls out AI suite for 2026 Winter Olympics

Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing and artificial intelligence arm of Alibaba Group Holding, has unveiled a suite of AI-powered tools for the Milano Cortina Winter Games, marking the first time a large language model (LLM) will be embedded into the Olympics’ digital infrastructure.

The partnership between Alibaba Cloud, Olympic Broadcasting Services and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was announced on Wednesday.

Alibaba’s Qwen model will power “Olympic AI Assistants”, a digital system designed to support fan engagement and internal operations. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Embedded on the IOC’s global website, the AI Assistant would offer multilingual conversational support and real-time event information to fans via a chat-based interface, according to Alibaba Cloud.

Internally, the Qwen model will also be deployed on the IOC’s secure portal for National Olympic Committees, enabling staff to locate documents and funding guidelines through natural language queries.

The collaboration underscores Alibaba Cloud’s efforts to accelerate overseas adoption of its flagship Qwen model series, leveraging the visibility of the Olympic event.