Airbnb chooses Alibaba's Chinese AI agent over ChatGPT

Quark's integration into Airbnb highlights Alibaba's growing efforts to transform its chatbot into a versatile AI-powered super app for local consumers amid intensifying competition among Chinese tech companies pursuing the same goal with similar apps like ByteDance's Duobao and Tencent's Yuanbao.

Alibaba also launched pre-orders for Quark glasses with AI capabilities. The device can translate and transcribe speech in real time. The gadget will cost approximately $660.

In March, Alibaba introduced the Super Box feature for its chatbot, which simplifies user interaction with increasingly complex AI applications by analyzing queries and generating relevant responses through a single interface. This was followed in May by the introduction of a deep search feature, which leverages a combination of multiple AI agents to understand complex queries and provide comprehensive reports rather than simple answers.

ByteDance added a number of similar features to its Doubao app, from search to photo problem-solving skills. Tencent made a similar update to Yuanbao, which now supports DeepSeek models. Doubao has reached 150 million monthly active users, while Quark has reached 151 million.