Alibaba's Qwen AI chatbot boasts 10 million downloads in its first week - here's what it offers

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• Qwen is now the fastest-growing AI tool in history.
• It debuted earlier this month in public beta.
• Alibaba says it plans to expand the app's functionality.

Chinese tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI assistant reached 10 million downloads within the first week following its launch as a public beta app earlier this month, the company announced Monday. 

That means Qwen AI is growing faster than its well-established rivals. For reference, ChatGPT reportedly reached a million users within the first five days following its public debut just under three years ago, which was viewed as historic at the time. ChatGPT remains the most popular chatbot by several measures, but competitors like Microsoft Copilot and Google's Gemini have recently been gaining ground. 

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