Alibaba, a leading Chinese tech company, has become a "canary in the coal mine" for global AI companies due to its shifting strategy between open and closed source AI models. China's tech companies have taken the global lead in open source AI models, a lead ceded by Meta's Llama models as Meta shifted to closed efforts like Muse Spark. Alibaba's Qwen open source models have been the leader in open source AI from China. However, Alibaba's challenges are highlighted by the NY Times article "Alibaba’s AI is a hit, but hard to turn into a moneymaker," which notes that Alibaba has been outmaneuvered by lower-cost rivals at home and has struggled to expand overseas. Alibaba built data centers capable of processing vast volumes of customer data as its e-commerce and logistics businesses expanded. It has been a fast follower to DeepSeek's open source model debut in January of 2025. Alibaba introduced its Qwen family of AI models in 2023 and quickly made them open source. China has made open-source technology a pillar of its drive to become an AI superpower, and nearly all of its leading AI systems are open source.