Is quark the best form for AI search? On the last day of February, I noticed that Quark announced that it had completed a comprehensive upgrade of the Quark App and PC: the homepage was revised, and Quark AI search launched "Deep Thinking".This is the first time that Quark has integrated large model deep thinking capabilities into AI search functions.
Quark said that Quark AI searches for "deep thinking" and can accurately understand users' real needs and deep intentions. For users' personalized and complex problems, "Deep Thinking" can efficiently provide detailed, comprehensive and trustworthy results to help users find answers, do analysis and write plans.
At the same time, Quark has also launched a new AI picture generation function to meet users’ needs in creating picture content. Users can click on the AI generated image in the AI search box, select their favorite style, proportion, feature words and automatic polishing to generate high-definition images.
According to Zheng Sishou, the head of product at Quark,Based on AI, the search industry has reached the threshold of intergenerational change and will enter a new era of AI search.In Tang Chen's opinion, this sentence has two meanings:
On the first level, Quark AI Search applies the latest intelligent capabilities to usage scenarios for large-scale users, trying to redefine AI search.The "deep thinking" ability can understand, analyze, and reason about questions raised by users, allowing users to bid farewell to the traditional search experience, break through keyword restrictions, and break through shallow semantic understanding. The results can not only provide answers, but the in-depth thinking process can further help users clarify their ideas and expand their cognition, greatly optimizing the question-and-answer search experience.
Another meaning is,AI large models are reconstructing search services, and their nature and value dimensions are undergoing disruptive changes.Based on the new AI capabilities, the search industry is divided into traditional search and AI search. The path dependence of traditional search inertia, based on the existing user scale, product volume and business model, can only be continuously superimposed on AI functions and increase AI content through later transformation.
But for users, more and more functions, complicated designs, and constantly adjusting entrances have a strange feeling of stitching.In the extreme case, some manufacturers will launch new search products and use some means to divert traffic, but in the end they will be unable to generate strong user stickiness due to the weakening of marketing methods, and they will run away after harvesting the wool.
In the past two years, Quark has continued to upgrade and expand the capabilities of AI search, and has become a banner of Alibaba AI on the C-end user side.In 2024 alone, Quark has released “Super Search Box” and “System-level Full Scenario AI”. In January 2025, Quark upgraded its brand slogan to "AI all-round assistant for 200 million people."
In other words, Quark can be an AI search, an intelligent tool, an AI assistant... it has embarked on a unique development path that is not defined or restricted.This time, Quark AI Search launched "Deep Thinking", integrated more AI functions, and took another step towards the AI search era.
Analysys analysis report shows that Quark is currently the only AI application in China where young users born after 2000 account for more than 50%. According to the latest "2024 Powerful AI Product List" released by Qimai Data, the annual downloads of Quark App exceed 370 million. According to QuestMobile data, as of September 2024, Tongyi has 3.0885 million monthly active users, ranking 10th among AIGC applications.
Not only that, Quark is also making continuous moves in the ToC field, demonstrating its determination to fight to the end in the C-side business through business integration, talent introduction, product layout, etc.
Judging from the timeline, on December 18, 2024, the AI application "Tongyi" was officially split from Alibaba Cloud and merged into the Intelligent Information Business Group; on January 22, 2025, the Tmall Genie hardware team under Alibaba's Intelligent Internet Business Group merged with the Quark Product Team, with the task of exploring new hardware directions including AI glasses;
On February 6, 2025, Xu Zhuhong, the world's top artificial intelligence scientist, joined Alibaba as vice president of Alibaba Group, reporting to Wu Jia. He will be responsible for the multi-modal basic model of AIToC business and basic research and application solutions related to Agents.
In the past, Alibaba rarely announced its C-side talent recruitment.This series of big moves can be regarded as Alibaba’s charge against AIToC.In addition to burning money, the offensive and defensive battles of large models essentially rely on talents and intelligence to catch up. It should be pointed out that Wu Jia is a senior executive of Alibaba’s “Youth School” who created Quark, one of the “Four Little Dragons of Alibaba”, and has rich experience in C-end product development.
Now, Wu Jia is in charge of AI products such as Quark, Tongyi, and Tmall Elf, focusing on Alibaba’s AIToC application business. It can be said thatThe transformation of Alibaba's AIToC strategy: the core businesses are united and twisted into a rope to form C-side applications represented by Quark, covering a multi-end layout from productivity tools, intelligent conversation products to AI hardware, hoping not to fall behind in the fierce AI competition.
It is worth noting that some media mentioned that the AI search thinking model launched by Quark was "self-developed by Alibaba." However, Quark did not further explain which self-developed model of Alibaba is connected. At the same time, Quark also stated that it will continue to access more powerful inference models in the near future, but did not disclose specific details.
One of the value points of DeepSeek is that while announcing the staged victory of open source large models, it also proves that inference is the core capability of future large models.This means that after the value of open source large models is amplified by DeepSeek, AI search still has more product capabilities that can be explored, and its future imagination space is also large enough.
After the release of DeepSeek-R1, various domestic industries are actively accessing DeepSeek. Major Internet companies such as Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba responded immediately and connected many of their flagship products to DeepSeek.
For example, Tencent launched a gray test to connect to DeepSeek-R1 on February 15, followed by Yuanbao. Currently, dozens of Tencent's products have been connected to DeepSeek. Tencent, which had been conservative in the past, moved very quickly in accepting DeepSeek traffic. On February 28, Yuanbao App entered the WeChat Jiugongge. One of the biggest promotional selling points is "full blood DeepSeek".
Baidu's actions are not slow either. On February 16, Baidu Search and Wenxin Intelligent Platform announced that they would fully integrate the latest deep search functions of DeepSeek and Wenxin Big Model. Baidu Wenku and Baidu Netdisk, which are more active in the implementation of AI under Baidu, also fully launched the DeepSeek-R1 full-blooded version on February 28.
The first Alibaba company to officially announce its access to DeepSeek was DingTalk. On February 6, DingTalk’s AI assistant was fully integrated into the DeepSeek series of models, supporting one-click creation and release of AI assistants based on the DeepSeek model. 1688, also one of the “Four Little Dragons”, also announced its access to the DeepSeek large model on February 10. It is conducting performance tests on related systems and will gradually open DeepSeek related services to merchants.
DeepSeek’s shock wave continues. It is a new starting point for Quark AI search, Baidu AI search and traditional search.
But Wu Jia also needs a warning:Quark started off on a minimalist path, but as its mission grows larger and more functional plug-ins become available, it will be a fatal question whether the "undefined" Quark will turn into a "bloated Hulk" and fall into the trap of money-burning marketing of large AI models, losing points in user experience.At this time, appropriate subtraction is also necessary.