Alibaba, BMW Team Up To Bring AI-Powered Smart Assistant In Next-Gen China Cars

Alibaba Group Holding BABA and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG BMWKY announced an expanded strategic partnership in China on Wednesday. The companies proposed accelerating the integration of Alibaba’s Qwen large language model (LLM) into BMW’s next-generation intelligent vehicles, the Neue Klasse models.

The new BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant (IPA) will integrate a bespoke AI engine co-developed by the companies, Alizila reports.

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The AI engine will be based on the Yan AI, a Qwen-empowered smart cockpit AI solution developed by Banma, Alibaba’s intelligent cockpit solution provider. Starting in 2026, the AI-enhanced IPA will debut in BMW Neue Klasse models produced in China.

BMW is building a new intelligent personal assistant with enhanced voice recognition and trip planning features, Bloomberg reports. The in-car AI agent can offer parking, nearby restaurant recommendations, and real-time traffic light information.

Alibaba told Bloomberg that the cars produced by Chinese automakers Xpeng Inc XPEV and Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding ZK leveraged its Qwen model.

Over the next three years, Alibaba committed over 380 billion yuan ($52 billion) to AI infrastructure, such as data centers. It bagged a key deal to provide AI technology to Apple Inc’s AAPL iPhones in China.

China is a key market for BMW, which is led by electric vehicle makers like BYD Co BYDDY.

On Tuesday, BMW also launched its 360-degree full-chain AI strategy in China, focusing on digital production operations, comprehensive user experiences, and R&D innovation, YICAI reports.

Recently, Jim Cramer warned against potentially reducing U.S. computational capabilities for artificial intelligence in response to Alibaba Chair Joe Tsai’s comments about a potential data center bubble.

Price Action: BABA stock is up 0.20% at $133.01 premarket at last check Wednesday.

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