Alibaba has announced plans to release an open-source version of its video and image-generating AI model, Wan 2.1. The company shared the news on X, stating that more details will be revealed in a recorded video at 11 p.m. (1500 GMT).

This move comes as competition in China's AI market heats up, especially after DeepSeek launched its latest open-source models last month. These models have attracted global attention, delivering performance comparable to top AI offerings from companies like OpenAI, which has been leaning towards closed-source solutions.

Originally introduced as Wanx in January, the AI model was later rebranded as Wan. It has gained recognition for its ability to create highly realistic visuals and currently holds the top spot on VBench, a leaderboard evaluating video generative models, excelling in multi-object interactions.

Alongside Wan 2.1, Alibaba also released a preview of its reasoning model, QwQ-Max, with plans to make it open source once the full version is ready.

This initiative aligns with Alibaba’s broader strategy to expand its technological footprint. The company recently announced an ambitious investment of at least 380 billion yuan ($52 billion) over the next three years to enhance its cloud computing and AI infrastructure.

By making its AI tools open source, Alibaba is positioning itself as a key player in the evolving AI landscape, as tech firms in China race to lead in innovation.