China’s Alibaba launches AI model to power robots
A man walks past Alibaba’s logo displayed at its booth during the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, China, July 16, 2025.
Florence Lo | Reuters
Alibaba’s It launched an artificial intelligence model designed to power robotics on Tuesday. as more tech giants enter the rapidly growing space.
The model, called RynnBrain, was designed to help robots understand the physical world around them and identify objects.
In a video published by Alibaba’s DAMO Academy, a robot is seen detecting the fruit and placing it in the basket. While these tasks may seem simple, they involve complex artificial intelligence that governs a robot’s understanding of movements as well as individual elements.
Robotics falls under the umbrella term called “physical AI,” which includes machines that rely on artificial intelligence, such as driverless cars; It’s an area China is prioritizing as it competes with the United States for technological leadership.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been among the tech industry’s most bullish on the sector, saying last year that artificial intelligence and robotics represented a “multi-million-dollar growth opportunity.”
For Alibaba, the RynnBrain model provides an entry point into the robotics market and continues the momentum seen with the Qwen family of AI models, which are among the most advanced models to come out of China.
Alibaba is not alone in creating models designed for physical AI. These AI “world models” are being developed by tech giants around the world. Nvidia has a number of models for training and operating AI in robotics under its “Cosmos” brand, while Gemini Robotics-ER 1.5 is Google’s own version of DeepMind.
Elon Musk, one of the biggest advocates of robotics, is designing his own artificial intelligence. Tesla’sOptimus’.
Especially when it comes to humanoid robots (machines designed to walk and move like humans), China appears to be ahead of the United States, and companies plan to increase production this year.
Like its other models, Alibaba is pursuing an open source strategy with RynnBrain, meaning developers can use it for free. Open source models have been key to Alibaba expanding the use of its models to developers around the world.
