This week’s news roundup features Alibaba’s latest breakthroughs in AI and cloud technology, spotlighting international access to advance AI models, strategic partnerships in enhancing financial innovation, and AI-driven sustainability solutions.
Alibaba Opens Video Generation Models to International Customers
Alibaba’s Wan series video generation models, boasting 14 billion parameters, are now available internationally via Model Studio, Alibaba Cloud’s AI development platform in Singapore’s availability zones.
This launch enables global users to access state-of-the-art models designed for creating high-quality images and videos directly from text and image inputs, empowering them to efficiently build customized AI applications. Currently, 40 models are available at Model Studio for international customers, including Alibaba’s flagship large language model Qwen and both closed-source and open-source versions of the Wan series.
CGS International Teams with Alibaba Cloud for AI-Powered Financial Services Innovation
CGS International Holdings Limited (“CGS International Holdings”), a subsidiary of China Galaxy Securities Co., Ltd., and Alibaba Cloud have signed an MoU to accelerate AI adoption in Hong Kong’s financial industry.
Their joint efforts will focus on four main areas: creating AI-driven trading strategy systems, risk assessment models, and financial research tools; deploying AI agents and workflow optimization solutions for improved efficiency; establishing secure, regulatory-compliant financial cloud infrastructure; and developing AI-enhanced compliance tools and data governance frameworks.
The partnership supports Hong Kong’s ambition to lead global fintech innovation, with 38% of the city’s financial institutions already utilizing generative AI, surpassing the global average of 26%.
Alibaba and Siemens Illuminate AI-Sustainability Opportunities at Shanghai Climate Week
At Shanghai Climate Week 2025, Alibaba and Siemens emphasized the transformative power of AI in achieving sustainability goals, focusing discussions around actionable strategies for leveraging digital innovation.
Alibaba’s Head of ESG Strategy, Dr. Liu Wei, joined leading executives including Siemens’ Global Head of Sustainability, Dr. Eva Riesenhuber,, Executive Vice President, Head of People & Organization, Sustainability Lead, Siemens Greater China, Ma Qing and China Director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network, Anke Schrader explored the critical roles partnerships and technology play in addressing sustainability challenges. The panel underscored how advancements in AI and digital technologies offer significant opportunities for corporations striving for sustainable growth, particularly in enhancing carbon footprint management and corporate transparency.
Siemens Integrates Alibaba’s Qwen Model to Boost Operational Efficiency
Alibaba’s large language model, Qwen, is now accessible through Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace, empowering China’s enterprises to integrate cutting-edge AI capabilities directly into their business solutions.
Siemens China has successfully employed the Qwen model to create an internal AI-powered chatbot, streamlining queries related to company policies, workflow approvals, product knowledge, and operational procedures. This implementation has significantly enhanced internal information retrieval efficiency, reducing operational costs and response times.
Alibaba Launches Open-Source Video Generation Model Offering Enhanced Creative Control
Alibaba has unveiled its latest open-source video generation model, Wan2.1-FLF2V-14B, designed to simplify short-video production. The model allows creators to define start and end frames, ensuring smooth transitions and visual consistency across generated videos.
Available on Hugging Face, GitHub, and ModelScope, this innovative model produces high-quality, realistic videos and supports multilingual text integration. Users can access free five-second, 720p videos via Wan’s website.
Since its initial February release, the Wan2.1 series has amassed over 2.2 million downloads, reinforcing Alibaba Cloud’s leading position in open-source AI development. The Wan2.1 series supports Chinese and English text effects and leads the VBench leaderboard.