Alibaba’s Stock (BABA) Moves Higher Pre-Market, Firm Unveils AI Glasses In Wearables Push

Alibaba's stock (NYSE:BABA) is on the rise in pre-market, up 1.88% after what has been an impressive start to the year, up 41%.

Sentiment is further on the rise, as the company unveiled its Quark AI Glasses today, marking its entry into the smart wearables market. The glasses, powered by Alibaba’s Qwen large language model and Quark AI assistant, are slated for launch in China by the end of 2025.

The Quark AI Glasses represent Alibaba’s answer to competitors like Meta and Xiaomi in the burgeoning AI wearables space. The move underscores Alibaba’s strategic push into hardware, leveraging its AI capabilities to broaden the distribution of its Quark AI assistant, currently available as an app.

The glasses are designed to address common pain points in existing AI wearables, such as user experience, battery life, and AI interaction. Alibaba claims the Quark AI Glasses feature a refined design, with temples reportedly 40% smaller than industry standards for improved comfort.

The device will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 chip and employs a dual operating system combining Android with a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) to optimize performance and power consumption.

“This investment is a strategic response to global AI trends, aiming to solidify Alibaba’s position in both software and hardware innovation,” stated CEO Eddie Wu Yongming.

A key differentiator between the devices on the market is the deep integration with Alibaba’s digital services. Users can make payments via Alipay, check product prices on Taobao, and receive navigation services from Amap directly through the glasses, which could be particularly important for regions where such tools are ever-present.