On August 17, 2026, Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) launched a new AI model designed to run on laptops and released the weights of its most powerful model, Qwen3.8-Max. It directly answers Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s own push into open-weight AI models built for consumer devices.
Why This Matters
Alibaba and Meta are both racing to dominate open-weight AI, but new download data shows one of them is winning by a wide margin. That raises the real question: can Meta’s resources close the gap, or has Alibaba already built a lead that’s hard to overcome?
Alibaba Outpaces Global AI Rivals with Qwen, Facing Geopolitical and Local Headwinds
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s Qwen model family has accumulated more than 3 billion global downloads in the past six months, more than Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Google, and other domestic Chinese rivals, according to Hugging Face, and Qwen-based models account for 151,448 derivative projects, 2.6 times Meta’s total footprint. Counterpoint Research’s Neil Shah said “the company which can offer the most capable open weights models will move ahead in this race,” and Futurum Group’s Nick Patience said Alibaba has made Qwen “the most credible non-US model family to build hardware relationships around.”
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s open-weight dominance sits inside a Chinese AI ecosystem that also includes strong rivals like DeepSeek and Moonshot, meaning it must defend its lead domestically even as it competes with Meta globally. Export controls and periodic access restrictions on Chinese AI technology show the geopolitical risk hanging over any Chinese AI company’s global ambitions.
Meta Launches Muse Glimmer to Reclaim Lost Ground in Open-Source AI
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s re-embrace of open-weight models, including its new Muse Glimmer family built for laptops, positions the company as a response to what Futurum’s Patience called “two years of Chinese labs…taking a large share” of the market, backed by Meta’s large and well-funded advertising business.
Meta’s own open-source Llama models were quickly outpaced by Chinese players, and Meta’s download and derivative-model footprint, 227 million downloads according to Hugging Face, trails Alibaba’s by a wide margin, showing Meta is playing catch-up in a race it once helped start.
Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Data
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was held by 102 hedge funds as of Q1 2026, down from 115. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was held by 262, up from 256.
Conclusion
The download numbers make Alibaba’s open-weight lead hard to argue with today, but Meta’s balance sheet gives it room to keep competing for years.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
