The Aporia
Cao, A. (2026, September 9). Alibaba sends AI ‘digital employees’ to work in rival apps from ByteDance, Tencent. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3366919/alibaba-sends-ai-digital-employees-work-rival-apps-bytedance-tencent?utm_source=rss_feed
Cao, Ann. “Alibaba sends AI ‘digital employees’ to work in rival apps from ByteDance, Tencent.” South China Morning Post, 9 Sept. 2026, https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3366919/alibaba-sends-ai-digital-employees-work-rival-apps-bytedance-tencent?utm_source=rss_feed.
Cao, Ann. “Alibaba sends AI ‘digital employees’ to work in rival apps from ByteDance, Tencent.” South China Morning Post, September 9, 2026. https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3366919/alibaba-sends-ai-digital-employees-work-rival-apps-bytedance-tencent?utm_source=rss_feed.
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Alibaba's cloud computing division has launched a tool called QoderWake that allows users to create digital employees using artificial intelligence. These digital workers can be deployed within popular workplace communication platforms in China, including DingTalk (owned by Alibaba), Feishu (owned by ByteDance), and WeCom (owned by Tencent). The tool uses a single-line description of the required role to generate fully functioning workers that can operate autonomously and interact with shared documents, calendars, and group chats. This move marks a shift in the approach of domestic tech giants like Alibaba, which are pivoting their AI models towards business-facing applications and incorporating rival products at the application layer. The goal is to create lucrative and complex enterprise workflows.