Alibaba Unveils Wonder Avenue: AI Shopping Experience at Paris 2024 Olympics

Throughout the Games, Alibaba Wonder Avenue will be open to spectators free of charge to show how technology is changing the e-commerce experience. With the help of Qwen, an exclusive language model from Alibaba Cloud, an intelligent shopping assistant will offer each customer a customized experience, showcasing the potential of artificial intelligence through the use of Qwen’s multilingual and image-generating features.

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, praised Alibaba’s artificial intelligence (AI) ability and its impact on the Olympic Movement during the official opening of Alibaba Wonder Avenue on July 27. “We are bringing the Olympic Movement into the digital era through our partnership, as evidenced by Alibaba’s Wonder Avenue,” he stated.

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Presenting the “Future of Shopping”

A four-stage trip through the “Future of Shopping” will be available to Wonder Avenue visitors. Initially, users would use Alibaba’s AI chatbot to create a personalized avatar. They will apply virtual makeup and receive personalized recommendations for fragrances and cosmetics in the second stage. In the final step, users create customized photos and outfit their avatars with voice commands. Lastly, guests use their avatars to take part in a virtual fashion show, and the event is documented in pictures and videos.

Alibaba Wonder Avenue, which is situated at the eastern end of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, close to the Fontaine du Cirque, will be open every day from July 27 to August 11, the Olympic Games, and from August 29 to September 8, the Paralympic Games.

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Honoring female athletes’ accomplishments at the Olympics

Alibaba has also commemorated Paris 2024 with the release of a special short video that explores the development of women’s sports throughout the history of the Olympic Games in partnership with the IOC. The movie shows how far we’ve come in attaining gender parity in sports, with Paris 2024 becoming the first Games to provide quota spots equally between male and female participants.

The eight-minute film, “To the Greatness of HER,” used artificial intelligence (AI) powered by Alibaba’s cloud to colorize and restore old photos of female athletes’ accomplishments from previous Olympics, such as French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen, who took home gold in the women’s singles and mixed doubles competitions in Antwerp in 1920.

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“‘To the Greatness of HER’ showcases the significant advancements made by women in sports throughout history,” stated President Bach. “I want to express my sincere gratitude to our partners at Alibaba for leveraging AI-powered technology to highlight the accomplishments of these female athletes across the gamut of hues.

The movie also includes interviews with trailblazing athletes like Zhang Shan of China, who created history in 1992 by winning gold in the mixed-gender skeet shooting event at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, and Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco, who became the first female athlete from an Islamic country to win an Olympic medal.