- Fans can query a multimodal basketball assistant, generate 360-degree replays and interact with a robot dog
- The technology showcase builds on Alibaba’s multi-year partnership with the NBA, announced in October 2025
Alibaba is bringing AI into the live basketball experience, deploying a range of applications from video-generated replays to a robotic guide dog at the 2026 NBA China Games.
The Houston Rockets faced the Dallas Mavericks at the Venetian Arena in Macau on October 9. As the event’s chief partner, Alibaba introduced several AI-powered features aimed at helping fans engage with the game and interact with teams beyond the court.
AI answers fans
The company introduced a multimodal version of NBA Chat, a basketball assistant powered by Alibaba’s Qwen models.
Fans can ask questions by voice or text and receive answers in text or video. Connected to the NBA’s knowledge graph and video library, the assistant can handle complex queries about games, teams and players, as well as retrieve relevant footage.
Three themed AI agents offer interactions modelled on former NBA star Stephon Marbury, commentator Wang Meng and basketball host Meina, providing entertainment, expert commentary and postgame updates.
Replays go 360
Alibaba’s Wan 3.0 video-generation model powers a new feature called “Star Moment,” which automatically focuses on players involved in key offensive and defensive plays and generates high-quality, 360-degree replays in 10 to 15 seconds.
The model also lets fans inside and outside the arena generate AI videos featuring imagery inspired by either the Mavericks or the Rockets.
Robot dog on duty
Amap, Alibaba’s mapping and navigation service, brought its robot dog Tutu to the NBA House fan zone. The robot provides greeting, food recommendations, shopping assistance and crowd guidance.
Powered by Amap’s ABot embodied AI technology stack, Tutu can navigate open environments, avoid obstacles, adjust its route and complete sequences of tasks.
Meanwhile, Taobao’s 88VIP membership program returned as the event’s chief partner for a second consecutive year, offering more than 64 million members benefits including priority access, front-row seating and ticket draws.
More than 2,000 spectators secured opportunities to attend through 88VIP benefits, accounting for about one-fifth of the audience.
Alibaba and the NBA announced a multi-year partnership on October 8, 2025, naming Alibaba Cloud the league’s official cloud computing and AI partner in China.
Later that month, the partnership made its debut at the NBA China Games with the introduction of 360-degree real-time replay technology.
“It is an exciting time at the intersection of sports and technology. AI and cloud technologies are enablers of connection — between player and fan, brand and consumer, global vision and local culture,” Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai, who also chairs the Brooklyn Nets, said then.
Header image credit: Amap
