Alibaba Group Holding has unveiled a new artificial intelligence model that claims to interpret human emotions, potentially positioning the company ahead of its competitors, including OpenAI.
In two distinct demonstrations, the researchers at Alibaba’s Tongyi Lab showcased their open-source R1-Omni model, which is adept at inferring the emotional states of individuals in videos. Along with this emotional analysis, the model provides contextual details regarding clothing and surroundings. This development enhances the capabilities of computer vision technology and represents an upgraded iteration of Alibaba’s previously launched open-source model, HumanOmni, created under the guidance of lead researcher Jiaxing Zhao.
The urgency for a stronger foothold in the AI sector has intensified for Alibaba following the impressive launch of DeepSeek in January. In response, the e-commerce giant is rapidly rolling out a series of AI tools and applications across various domains. The company has also benchmarked its Qwen model against DeepSeek and formed a significant partnership with Apple Inc. to integrate AI functionalities into iPhones. Now, Alibaba is eager to challenge OpenAI’s positioning in the market. The R1-Omni model is available for free download on Hugging Face, further enhancing accessibility for users.
There have been numerous endeavors to achieve emotional intelligence, enabling machines to recognize and react to human emotions. This technology is already being utilized in customer service chatbots to detect customer frustration, as well as in Tesla vehicles to identify drowsy drivers.
Earlier this year, OpenAI introduced its GPT-4.5 model, which it claims improves the identification and response to subtle cues provided by users’ written prompts. However, access to this model comes at a steep monthly cost of $200 (approximately Rs. 17,445). In contrast, Alibaba’s strategy aims to attract customers in China by offering its model without any fees, allowing broader access. The current demonstrations illustrate the model’s ability to identify basic emotional descriptors such as “happy” or “angry,” and its capacity to derive these insights from visual data is noteworthy.
Eddie Wu, CEO of the Hangzhou-based tech firm, informed analysts in February that the pursuit of artificial general intelligence has become Alibaba’s primary focus. Attaining emotional intelligence represents a crucial milestone in that overarching objective.
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