Tech Alibaba makes AI video generation model free to use globally

Alibaba has released its video generation AI models for free, intensifying competition in the AI market. The company is open-sourcing four models from its Wan2.1 series, enabling text and image-based video generation. These models are accessible globally through Alibaba Cloud’s Model Scope and Hugging Face, catering to academics, researchers, and commercial entities. This move follows the trend of Chinese firms, like DeepSeek, pushing open-source AI, challenging proprietary models from companies like OpenAI. Open-source AI promotes innovation and community building, though it doesn’t generate direct revenue. Alibaba’s stock has surged in 2025, driven by improved financials, its AI prominence in China, and government support for the private sector.