Alibaba’s AI agent Qwen has made headlines with the launch of its “Spring Festival 3 Billion Giveaway” (春节30亿大免单) campaign, offering unlimited free bubble tea vouchers in China.
Qwen crashed from the traffic, and 10 million orders were completed in 9 hours.
Qwen had integrated with Freshippo, Tmall Supermarket and Alipay.
Users can now purchase anything from bubble tea to concert tickets or airline flights with a single prompt to Alibaba’s AI agent.
This fundamental shift in how AI is used in daily life in China is captured in this now very popular internet slang phrase:
从聊天到办事：千问拆掉AI的”次元壁”。当前AI产业面临的核心挑战，并非技术本自身，而是如何将智能转化为真实场景中的执行力。
“From chatting to getting things done: Qwen tears down AI’s ‘dimensional wall’.”
“Dimensional wall” (次元壁 cì yuán bì) is internet slang describing the barrier between the virtual world and the real world.
Alibaba’s Qwen demonstrates a big leap in AI moving from talking to doing, breaking the barrier between virtual intelligence and real‑world action, oft times referred to as the agentic challenge of today’s AI industry.
As always for me it’s the communication pedigree of the term and its use by Chinese people that is so fascinating.
As Andrew Methven describes it, “Dimensional wall” (次元壁 cì yuán bì) is internet slang describing the barrier between the virtual world and the real world.
The phrase originally emerged from Japanese ACGN culture (Anime, Comics, Games, Novels) to describe the gap between anime and manga fans, and mainstream society.
In anime, “2D” or “nijigen” (二次元) refers to the fantasy worlds created in two-dimensional media like anime and manga. And “3D” (三次元) refers to real life, the physical world we live in.
The “wall” (壁) between them separates anime and real life.
By 2023 China had 500 million nijigen fans which explains the lineage.
“If you need something, just ask Qwen” (有事找千问).
#Qwen
#Alibaba
#SpringFestival
#bubbletea
#agenticAI
#ChinaAI
#dimensionalwall
#次元壁 cì yuán bì)
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