On February 27, Alibaba's AI product Qwen will officially launch its first AI glasses of the same name at the 2026 World Mobile Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, with reservations opening online and offline across all channels starting March 2. This marks another significant move by Alibaba in the field of AI wearable hardware, following the launch of the Quark AI glasses in November last year.

From "Fingertip Interaction" to "Scenario-Based Interaction": Qwen's Capabilities Extend to End Devices

Interface News learned from inside Alibaba that the capabilities of the Qwen APP, such as ordering food delivery and hailing rides, will gradually be integrated into end devices like the Qwen AI glasses, achieving an "overflow of capabilities" from the smartphone screen to multi-terminal scenarios. According to an internal source at Alibaba, in addition to AI glasses, Qwen also plans to launch products like AI smart rings and AI earbuds within the year, targeting the global market.

This layout echoes the previous performance data of Qwen's consumer-facing (C-end) business. On February 23, Qwen released data showing that during the Spring Festival, users completed nearly 200 million operations on Qwen through "one-click ordering," of which over 4 million were from users aged 60 and above. This indicates that AI is evolving from a tool to a service gateway, and Alibaba aims to seamlessly extend these capabilities to wearable forms like glasses and rings, achieving a leap from "fingertip interaction" to "scenario-based interaction."

Organizational Support: Qwen C-End Business Group Established, Led by Wu Jia

To support this strategy, Alibaba officially established the Qwen C-End Business Group in December last year, led by Alibaba Group Vice President Wu Jia. This business group was formed by merging and restructuring the former Smart Information and Smart Interconnection business groups, integrating business segments such as the Qwen APP, Quark, AI hardware, UC, and Shuqi. This organizational adjustment aims to streamline resource coordination between AI applications, content ecosystems, and hardware products, providing institutional support for Qwen's multi-terminal layout.

Hardware Competition Heats Up: Global Tech Giants Vie for AI Glasses

Qwen's hardware layout is not an isolated case. Currently, AI smart glasses have become the hottest battleground for global tech giants. Meta, with the success of its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, already holds 75.7% of the global smart glasses market share (IDC data) and is building a wearable ecosystem centered around AI glasses, with product lines covering AI earbuds, neural wristbands, and smartwatches. Apple is also accelerating the development of products like AI smart glasses and wearable pendants, leveraging Apple Intelligence and an upgraded Siri to enhance on-device AI capabilities. OpenAI was recently reported to have assembled a hardware team of over 2,000 people, planning to launch multiple consumer-grade hardware devices between late 2026 and 2027, including smart glasses, voice recorders, and wearable pins.

Chinese Manufacturers Rise: Four of Top Five Global Spots Occupied

In terms of market structure, Chinese manufacturers are rapidly rising in the smart glasses race. According to IDC's latest "Quarterly Global Smart Glasses Market Tracker," aside from Meta holding the top spot, the other four manufacturers in the top five are all from China: Xiaomi, Leinuo, Xreal, and Viture. In the first half of 2025, global smart glasses shipments reached 4.065 million units, a year-on-year increase of 64.2%, showing strong growth momentum.

Quark Leads the Way: First Self-Developed AI Glasses Already Launched

It is worth noting that Alibaba has already made an early move in the AI glasses field. On November 27, 2025, Alibaba's first self-developed AI glasses, "Quark," were officially launched. Deeply integrated with the Qwen AI assistant and core Alibaba ecosystem scenarios like Alipay and Amap, they support practical functions such as navigation, payment, and real-time translation, attracting a large number of consumers to queue up for experiences after their release. The launch of the Qwen AI glasses of the same name will further enrich Alibaba's product matrix in the AI wearable field, forming a dual-track advancement pattern with Quark and Qwen.

With the official debut of the Qwen AI glasses at MWC 2026, Alibaba is accelerating its shift from cloud AI to on-device AI, and from software services to integrated software and hardware, positioning itself strategically in the dual tracks of AI super apps and AI wearables.