Alibaba’s maps app gets an AI upgrade with Qwen-powered agent

Powered by Alibaba’s in-house AI models, the agent can navigate roads, plan trips and recommend places to visit using natural language commands such as “send me to the office” or “please find a quiet place with a lake view”, according to Amap.

The AI agent serves as a key consumer-facing tool for Alibaba to deploy its advanced AI models in practical scenarios, an area where China strives to establish leadership despite its foundational models lagging behind those in the US.

Amap, a maps app and ride-hailing platform, has said it has 1 billion active users.

Alibaba, owner of the Post and one of China’s leading tech firms investing heavily in AI, called Amap’s new tool the first “AI-native” agent designed for mapping services.

Named Teacher Xiaogao, the agent features autonomous reasoning capabilities and uses a diverse array of large AI models co-developed with Alibaba’s Tongyi Lab, the creator of the company’s Qwen family of foundational AI models, according to the firm.