Alibaba Plans 3 Billion Yuan Lunar New Year AI Push Following Buy Rating Reaffirmation
Alibaba secured a reaffirmed Buy rating from Aletheia Capital on February 5 and will spend 3 billion yuan in Lunar New Year incentives starting February 6 to promote its Qwen AI app. These incentives triple the 1 billion and 500 million yuan budgets announced by Tencent and Baidu.
1. Aletheia Capital Reaffirms Buy Rating
On February 5, Alibaba received a reaffirmed Buy rating from Aletheia Capital, underscoring confidence in its e-commerce and AI growth strategy. The rating supports investor sentiment ahead of the company’s Lunar New Year promotional push.
2. 3 Billion Yuan Lunar New Year Campaign
Alibaba will deploy 3 billion yuan in cash incentives and “large red envelopes” starting February 6 to drive users to its Qwen AI chatbot. Offers will cover drinks, dining, leisure and entertainment across major Chinese cities.
3. Intensifying AI Chatbot Competition
This campaign triples the promotional budgets of Tencent (1 billion yuan) and Baidu (500 million yuan), reflecting escalating rivalry in China’s AI chatbot market since the launch of DeepSeek’s R1 model in January last year.