- Alibaba’s chatbot assistant upgraded its AI glasses into agent-powered smart glasses and unveiled its first AI earbuds at WAIC 2026
- The new devices combine vision and audio to create an always-on AI assistant, signaling a broader push into AI wearables
Alibaba’s AI assistant Qwen unveiled a major upgrade to its AI glasses and introduced its first AI-powered earbuds at the opening day of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), deepening its bet on AI wearables with what it calls an always-on personal AI assistant.
The upgraded Qwen AI glasses have been repositioned as AI agent glasses, adding three key capabilities. Full-duplex voice interaction allows users to speak and interrupt the assistant naturally without waiting for responses to finish.
Eye tracking enables gaze-based control, while iris authentication developed with Ant Group provides secure identity verification.
The glasses also feature what Qwen describes as the industry’s first real-time physiological monitoring module for AI glasses.
Using photo-plethysmography (PPG) and temperature sensors, the device measures heart rate, blood oxygen levels and heart rate variability (HRV), while monitoring blink frequency and eye movement to detect visual fatigue and proactively recommend breaks.
The upgrade also includes enhanced 3D spatial display and spatial audio.
“Agents without hardware cannot interact with the physical world, while hardware without agents is merely a tool,” Wu Jianjun (吴建军), general manager of Qwen AI Hardware, said during the launch. “Our goal is to combine the best hardware with the best AI agent to build the best AI assistant.”
First AI-powered earbuds
Alongside the glasses, Qwen introduced its first AI agent earbuds, Qwen Clip, developed in collaboration with Bose, whose acoustic engineers tuned the device for both open-ear comfort and high-fidelity sound.
The earbuds integrate the Qwen AI assistant and support features including real-time interpretation, meeting transcription and health logging.
Working together with the AI glasses, the earbuds capture voice commands while the glasses interpret visual intent, creating what Qwen describes as a multimodal perception system.
The new capabilities will debut in Qwen’s next-generation AI glasses later this year, while existing S1 and G1 models will receive the full AI agent functionality through over-the-air software updates.
Competition heating up
The launch reflects intensifying competition in AI wearables, where devices are evolving from voice assistants into autonomous AI agents.
Earlier this year, Qwen’s AI glasses topped sales rankings across multiple Chinese e-commerce platforms within 10 hours of launch.
While Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have shipped more than 7 million units globally, their core functions remain centered on photography and voice assistance.
Qwen is betting that AI agents, eye tracking, biometric sensing and multimodal interaction will define the next generation of wearable computing.
Why it matters for global readers
For global readers, the launch highlights how competition among AI companies is evolving beyond foundation models to hardware, user interaction and ecosystem integration.
By pairing AI glasses with AI earbuds, Qwen is pursuing an always-available assistant spanning both vision and hearing—a direction that could influence the next phase of the global wearable AI market.
