Alibaba launches DeepSeek rival, sending stock surging
Chinese tech giant Alibaba unveiled its latest artificial intelligence reasoning model on Thursday, boasting that its capabilities beat those of rival models from OpenAI and startup DeepSeek.
The news prompted Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares to close 8% higher on the day and helped boost the Hang Seng’s China Enterprises Index.
The release of Alibaba’s new AI model comes a day after the launch of a “general AI agent” called Manus by another company. A video on the website dedicated to Manus says the software can carry out complex, multi-step tasks such as screening resumés and creating a website. According to Reuters, Manus is the creation of Chinese company Monica.