Alibaba has officially launched its Quark AI smart glasses in China, marking a serious attempt to dive into the fast-emerging AI wearables ecosystem. Starting at 1,899 yuan, approximately Rs 21,800, this pair of glasses is different from other such devices because of its regular black-rimmed design—far sleeker and more discreet compared to bulky headsets like Meta Quest or Apple Vision Pro.
The device, powered by Alibaba's in-house Qwen AI model and a companion app, is positioned as "everyday AI" hardware. It offers on-the-go translation, instant price recognition, navigation, and content queries and connects seamlessly with Alipay and Taobao.
Blending AI with lifestyle tech
Alibaba has long been a leader in e-commerce and cloud services, but lagged rivals in consumer hardware. That's changing fast. The company upgraded its Qwen chatbot earlier this year; it now forms the core intelligence of the Quark glasses.
Users can interact directly with Qwen through the glasses, asking questions, getting recommendations, or accessing shopping tools hands-free. Alibaba calls the launch part of its long-term "AI ecosystem vision" that ties together its shopping, payment, and content services with real-world consumer tech.
Ecosystem advantage: Shopping, payments and more
But what gives Alibaba an edge is the sheer size of its integrated ecosystem. For instance, the glasses can instantly recognise products and can show price comparisons or enable voice-based purchases through Alipay. It is a frictionless experience that many standalone devices cannot achieve.
Analysts say the brand could become a serious competitor within the mid-tier wearables market, especially among young consumers of fashion accessories with a technological focus, if priced competitively in global markets.
A growing battle in AI eyewear
China's smart eyewear sector is getting highly competitive. Already, both Xiaomi and Baidu have introduced their own smart glasses that translate text, navigate, and add AR layers over the real world. Alibaba's entry brings fresh momentum to the space.
With nearly 80 per cent market share, Meta currently leads the XR and smart glasses segment worldwide, followed by Apple and Samsung, each pushing next-generation wearable computing with their respective units, Vision Pro and Galaxy XR.
Alibaba has confirmed that Quark AI glasses will be made available internationally in 2026, starting with several Asian and European markets.
