Alibaba's Quark Develops 'Plan C' AI to Rival ByteDance's Doubao
Alibaba’s Quark business unit is reportedly developing a new artificial intelligence initiative internally codenamed “Plan C,” according to Chinese tech media Sina Tech. The project is being led by Quark’s core team with technical support from Alibaba’s Tongyi Lab and primarily focuses on the development of conversational AI products. Initial results from this effort are expected to be released soon. Sources indicate that “Plan C” has been under quiet development for several months, representing a long-term strategic effort tied to significant breakthroughs in underlying AI models. Within Alibaba, interpretations of the codename vary; some employees believe the “C” stands for “Chat,” while others suggest it alludes to Pac-Man. This latter interpretation is seen as a playful reference to the Chinese phrase for “eating beans,” which hints at a direct competitive challenge to ByteDance’s popular chatbot, Doubao, a name that literally translates to “bean bun.” This development underscores the intensifying competition between major Chinese technology giants in the rapidly evolving generative AI sector, as they vie for dominance in consumer-facing conversational interfaces.
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Alibaba's Quark Develops 'Plan C' AI to Rival ByteDance's Doubao
Alibaba’s Quark business unit is reportedly developing a new artificial intelligence initiative internally codenamed “Plan C,” according to Chinese tech media Sina Tech. The project is being led by Quark’s core team with technical support from Alibaba’s Tongyi Lab and primarily focuses on the development of conversational AI products. Initial results from this effort are expected to be released soon. Sources indicate that “Plan C” has been under quiet development for several months, representing a long-term strategic effort tied to significant breakthroughs in underlying AI models. Within Alibaba, interpretations of the codename vary; some employees believe the “C” stands for “Chat,” while others suggest it alludes to Pac-Man. This latter interpretation is seen as a playful reference to the Chinese phrase for “eating beans,” which hints at a direct competitive challenge to ByteDance’s popular chatbot, Doubao, a name that literally translates to “bean bun.” This development underscores the intensifying competition between major Chinese technology giants in the rapidly evolving generative AI sector, as they vie for dominance in consumer-facing conversational interfaces.
TechNode