NEW YORK, Feb 9, 2026, 07:44 EST — Premarket
Alibaba Group Holding’s U.S. shares slipped 0.6% to $161.54 ahead of Monday’s open, as issues cropped up over the weekend with a Qwen AI chatbot promo. The Hong Kong-traded stock finished the day stronger, closing up 2.3% at HK$158.50.
These glitches are a problem for Alibaba’s efforts to translate its AI push into real business, not just conversation. Investors see consumer AI as a swing factor for the stock—they’re still waiting for proof that it can operate at scale without a lot of babysitting.
Chinese regulators have also been pressuring platforms on pricing practices and gig worker pay—risks that tend to show up fast, and often with little notice.
China’s transport ministry called in the Alibaba-owned Amap ride-hailing service to discuss its management approach and pricing, demanding lower commissions and fair driver pay, according to officials. In response, Amap pledged to follow through on the ministry’s directives and tackle compliance, market order, and driver welfare.
Alibaba’s Qwen chatbot pulled the plug on coupon giveaways after a flood of demand jammed up its just-launched “AI shopping” feature, which had been letting users buy straight from a chat window across Alibaba’s shopping apps. The step fits Alibaba’s push into “agentic AI” — think software that acts, not just chats, placing orders and making payments in-app, similar to Google weaving Gemini into Maps. First nine hours? Ten million orders, according to Alibaba. But the surge proved too much: Qwen soon told users it was overwhelmed and urged patience. Alibaba wouldn’t elaborate on what went wrong. Reuters
Alibaba moves into the U.S. session on firmer footing, with risk appetite showing some resilience following a bounce in U.S. chip stocks and other tech names that had been under pressure. Investors remain cautious, though, with a busy slate of U.S. data on jobs, inflation, and spending coming up this week.
Traders are eyeing the stock’s behavior as regular trading picks up, watching to see if Alibaba brings back its coupon giveaway smoothly. The other big question: does the frenzy from the weekend stick around, or was it just a flash in the pan?
But there’s a flip side here: should the Qwen rollout continue to sputter, the “AI-to-shopping” narrative risks appearing like little more than a pricey marketing play. Ongoing scrutiny from regulators on ride-hailing fees and pricing could end up hitting Amap, too, dragging on returns.
Alibaba is due to release its quarterly numbers soon, with Wall Street Horizon pointing to Feb. 19 as the likely date. The company hasn’t made it official yet. Results are expected to land before the U.S. market opens.
