Alibaba Enters Wearable AI Market with Quark Smart Glasses

Alibaba unveiled its Quark AI Glasses on Thursday, marking its first foray into consumer hardware wearables. The glasses come in two models: the premium S1 priced at $536 with micro-OLED displays, and the budget G1 at $217. Both integrate Alibaba’s Qwen AI models and connect to the newly launched Qwen app, offering features like real-time translation, AI meeting notes, and Taobao price scanning through built-in cameras.

The launch taps into China’s booming smart glasses market, which saw 1.6 million units shipped through September. Global shipments are projected to exceed 10 million by 2026. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 platform, the glasses target the intersection of AI and augmented reality—a space where Meta has been aggressively investing.

‘The sprint toward embodied AI just accelerated,’ said a tech analyst, noting Alibaba’s hardware-software integration could disrupt Meta’s early lead. The glasses are available via Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin—a distribution muscle few rivals can match.