Alibaba Unveils Qwen 2.5 AI Model, Claims It Outperforms DeepSeek

Chinese tech giant Alibaba has released its latest AI model, Qwen 2.5-Max, claiming it surpasses the widely acclaimed DeepSeek-V3 in performance.

The release, announced on Lunar New Year’s Day, signals growing competitive pressure from DeepSeek, which has rapidly gained global recognition with its cost-efficient and high-performance AI models. Alibaba’s cloud division stated that Qwen 2.5-Max outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, and Meta’s Llama 3.1-405B across multiple benchmarks.

DeepSeek’s Rise and AI Price Wars

Since DeepSeek’s V3 model launch on January 10 and its R1 model on January 20, the AI startup has shaken Silicon Valley and Chinese tech giants alike. DeepSeek’s low development and usage costs have raised concerns among investors about the high spending by U.S. AI firms, triggering stock fluctuations in the sector.

📌 Recommended Reads:

• OpenAI and Microsoft Investigate Potential Unauthorized Data Access by Chinese AI Firm DeepSeekatest 
• AI is not merely a tool—it is an agent: Yuval Noah Harari
• Future of SEO marketing in the age of growing AI

DeepSeek has also disrupted the Chinese AI market, forcing companies like Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent into aggressive price wars. The startup’s V2 model, released in May 2023, was open-source and extremely cost-effective—charging just 1 yuan ($0.14) per 1 million tokens—prompting Alibaba to slash AI model prices by up to 97%.

ByteDance and Other Chinese Tech Giants React

DeepSeek’s rapid progress has sparked a race among Chinese AI firms.

• ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) released an AI model update two days after DeepSeek-R1, claiming it surpasses OpenAI’s GPT-4o in AIME, a key performance benchmark.
• Baidu and Tencent are also upgrading their AI models to remain competitive.

DeepSeek’s Vision and Industry Shake-Up

Despite growing competition, DeepSeek’s enigmatic founder Liang Wenfeng has dismissed concerns over price wars. In a rare interview, he emphasized that DeepSeek’s goal is to achieve Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—AI that matches or surpasses human intelligence in most tasks.

Liang also criticized the traditional corporate structures of Chinese tech giants, arguing that their high costs and rigid hierarchies limit their ability to drive AI innovation. DeepSeek, in contrast, operates like a research lab, relying on a lean team of young PhD graduates from top universities.

The Battle for AI Supremacy Continues

With Alibaba, ByteDance, and other major players now aggressively upgrading their AI capabilities, DeepSeek’s meteoric rise has intensified the global AI arms race. The coming months will determine whether DeepSeek can maintain its dominance or if Chinese tech giants will reclaim their lead in the AI revolution.