Alibaba’s AI Glasses Are Coming For Meta — And They’re Packed With Features

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), which has a significant tech presence, has entered the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered smart glasses market, potentially competing with Meta Platforms (META).

The Jack Ma-co-founded company previewed its Quark AI glasses, named after its AI assistant, at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) being held in Shanghai.

“Alibaba is making its entrance into the future of wearables with the debut of Quark AI Glasses — its first-ever smart eyewear powered by Qwen and Quark’s multimodal AI,” the company said in a statement released via Alizila, the English news hub of the company.

The Quark AI glasses would be sleek, lightweight, and loaded with useful features such as hands-free calling, real-time translation, music streaming, and even meeting transcriptions. 

“Designed for professionals, travelers, and tech enthusiasts, the glasses seamlessly connect with Alibaba’s ecosystem — from Amap navigation to Taobao price comparisons, Alipay payments, and Fliggy travel alerts — all via voice commands,” the Hangzhou-headquartered company said.

The company said the AI glasses will launch in China by the end of 2025, adding that “Quark AI Glasses is designed to fulfill Alibaba’s mission to make AI relevant, always-on, and everywhere.”

In Monday's early premarket session, Alibaba stock was up nearly 2% at $122.38.

Alibaba updated its Quark personal assistant this year, and it is now available as an app in China. A CNBC report stated that the company’s foray into hardware manufacturing may have been aimed at gaining more traction for the app.

The AI smart glasses market is currently dominated by Meta, which built it in collaboration with Ray-Ban. Fellow Chinese firm Xiaomi launched its version earlier this year. 

Apple (AAPL) could launch AI-powered glasses in 2027, according to Taiwan-based analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

A report from SNS Insider stated that the AI smart glasses market could be worth $3.01 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% between 2025 and 2032.

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