Qwen 4 Is Training — and Alibaba Has a 20 GW Data-Center Plan

At its 2026 Apsara conference, Alibaba Cloud laid out a full-stack AI plan: Qwen 4 is now in training, with Qwen 4.5 and Qwen 5 projected to reach 5–10 trillion parameters; new Zhenwu V900 chips claim 3× the performance of their predecessor; and Alibaba wants more than 20 GW of data-center capacity by 2032, adding first cloud regions in Türkiye, Finland and the Netherlands. The eye-catching part: an earlier Qwen model ran 33 self-improvement cycles in a month and, in a chip-design test, cut chip area 42% after 10,000+ automated tool calls.

Why it matters: China's cloud giant is betting AI demand keeps doubling — and that its own models can help design the chips to serve it.

Source: Alibaba Group — "Alibaba Cloud's 2026 Apsara Conference: Full-Stack AI Roadmap Along with Global Market Expansion Plan", accessed October 24, 2026.