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The Chinese company Alibaba has introduced a new model artificial intelligence «R1-Omni», which, according to the developers, can recognize human emotions.
It is known that the new AI model was developed by specialists from Tongyi Lab. The ability of «R1-Omni» to recognize human emotions is part of Alibaba’s desire to compete with the developments of leading AI companies, including ChatGPT by OpenAI.
Pros information Bloomberg, the model is already available as an open source. During the demonstrations, «R1-Omni» was able to recognize the emotions of the person in the video, as well as provide a description of what the person was wearing and what was around them.
The new model uses advanced computer vision technology based on the previous HumanOmni model, which was also created by lead developer Jiaxing Zhao.
Perhaps Alibaba reacted to the success of another AI model by Chinese by DeepSeek, which made a splash in the world after its release. Alibaba is investing heavily in AI tools and programs, including the Qwen model, which it compares to DeepSeek’s models.
In addition, Alibaba has partnered with Apple to introduce AI features in Chinese iPhones. Now, Alibaba aims to compete with OpenAI by offering R1-Omni available for free on the Hugging Face platform.
Meanwhile, OpenAI realized the challenge and the increasing pace at which competing AI platforms. Earlier this year, the company launched its updated GPT-4.5 model, which can detect subtle nuances in user prompts. However, the model is not available for free — it is available to premium subscribers at a price of $200 per month.
Alibaba, on the other hand, wants to achieve its main goal of «general-level artificial intelligence». The company’s CEO Eddie Wu made it clear to analysts in February that «general artificial intelligence» is a top priority for the company. This demonstrates Alibaba’s desire to establish itself as a major player in the global race.
In early 2025, the shares of NVIDIA and other leading Western tech companies plummeted as AI models of the Chinese startup DeepSeek gained popularity worldwide.
It is possible that the new AI model from Alibaba will also make a splash in the artificial intelligence market.
Source: Neowin