Mastering Intent: The Key to Traffic Dominance

Written by / Meng Huiyuan

Edited by / Li Wenjie

Formatted by / Annalee

Within a mere three days of its public beta launch, the Qianwen APP catapulted into the top three of the Apple App Store's free overall chart, amassing over 10 million downloads in just a week. This remarkable feat marks the initial triumph of the Qianwen APP.

Dubbed as the "ultimate personal AI assistant" and "superior in fulfilling user tasks," official sources assert that this achievement eclipses those of ChatGPT, Sora, and DeepSeek, positioning it as the fastest-growing AI application in history.

It has not only sparked "Qwen panic" in Silicon Valley's tech circles but also prompted Singapore's national AI initiative to abandon Meta and align with its cause. Indeed, in the eyes of many netizens, the free Qianwen APP's generous token offerings evoke memories of the "golden era of ChatGPT before its intelligence waned."

Crucially, Qianwen's ability to captivate widespread attention and ignite heated discussions stems from its unique capability: enabling AI to not only comprehend and extend user instructions but also to collaborate seamlessly across scenarios and directly accomplish tasks for users.

If the past Mobile Internet wars were battles among super apps, with leading platforms like WeChat, Taobao, and Douyin striving to fulfill all user needs within their ecosystems, then Qianwen's current foray into the consumer market with this posture reveals its grand ambition: to become the origin point of user demand.

When future consumer users no longer need to deliberate, "Should I shop on Taobao, search on Baidu, or use Gaode Maps?" and can simply articulate a specific need to an AI assistant like Qianwen—such as, "I want to find a dog-friendly, barbecue-allowed B&B in the countryside for the weekend, with a budget of 1,000 yuan"—then the essence of the mobile internet war will shift from competing for user time (attention) to competing for user intent (demand).

Whoever seizes the first entry point for user demand will wield the supreme power to redefine and allocate traffic.

"Dialogue as Task Execution": Reshaping Entry Rules

Since its public beta announcement on November 17, topics related to Qianwen have been continuously fermenting online, all stemming from the official's audacious claim: "Not only can it 'dialogue' with users but also 'get things done' for them, creating a future AI lifestyle entry point that will gradually encompass multiple life scenarios such as office work, maps, health, and shopping."

In just over a week, Qianwen has become the center of attention across social media, tech forums, professional reviews, and user shares. Everyone is rushing to download and experience this AI assistant, highly anticipated by Alibaba, eager to witness its exceptional capabilities—or rather, how adept Qianwen is at "getting things done."

Bloomberg data reveals that Qianwen Qwen downloads have surpassed those of Llama.

From Zinc Scale's usage experience, the most intuitive impression of this app is its homepage, featuring 14 functional modules, including currently popular functions like AI video generation, AI photo editing, and AI image generation.

However, these features alone are insufficient to distinguish Qianwen from similar products in the current market. Many apps offer similar functionalities, and even with Qianwen providing them for free, it cannot gain a significant edge. It wasn't until Zinc Scale shifted from "asking questions" to "giving commands" that another layer of strength in this "task execution assistant" began to surface.

Previously, in the conventional Q&A mode with AI assistants, users often needed to clearly articulate their problems and then wait for the app to provide corresponding answers or suggestions, effectively rendering the AI assistant an "information assistant."

Now, users can simply issue specific instructions based on their needs, such as "plan a business trip itinerary to Chengdu," and the AI assistant can swiftly comprehend and execute, providing a corresponding travel plan. Users can even follow up with secondary instructions like "book a flight," receiving flight recommendations and booking entry points. This effectively leverages Qianwen as an entry point to connect with third-party platforms like Ctrip, initiating a seamless travel planning and booking experience for users.

Although Qianwen's current responses are not flawless, and it even includes disclaimers for user safety when accessing third-party services, the information gleaned from this usage experience is sufficient to fuel speculation about its future.

When AI assistants evolve from "information assistants" to "task execution assistants," players in e-commerce, local life, maps, entertainment, health, and other fields will be relegated to "service and data providers." Their direct interaction interfaces with users will be usurped by AI assistants, which will become the unified intelligent interfaces for this vast service ecosystem.

Just as within Qianwen, Taobao, Gaode, Ele.me, and Fliggy are no longer independent apps but "skills" or "service modules" that can be summoned anytime based on user needs.

Judging from Alibaba's subsequent actions, the likelihood of development in this direction is high: the Qianwen APP positions itself with a "dialogue + task execution" dual mode, planning to deeply integrate with Alibaba scenarios like Gaode navigation and Taobao shopping; the Quark browser incorporates Qianwen to create a "desktop-level intelligent assistant," allowing 110 million users to globally awaken AI (e.g., summarizing web pages while browsing).

Even more ambitiously, Alibaba's vision extends from software to hardware: the first Quark AI glasses with built-in Qianwen will be released, supporting near-eye navigation and visual Q&A, leading in pre-sales during Double 11 and taking a crucial step from the "digital to physical" world.

Thus, the core of this development path becomes evident: through the strategy of "dialogue as task execution," an independent AI assistant integrates its ecosystem services to become the first entry point for user traffic.

AI Assistants' Dimensionality Reduction Strike Against Super Apps

When AI assistants become sufficiently intelligent, will users no longer need to open individual apps?

Before pondering this question, a more noteworthy background for external observers is that past Mobile Internet wars were battles among super apps. Leading platforms like WeChat, Taobao, and Douyin were virtually traffic black holes, all attempting to fulfill all user needs within their ecosystems.

These super apps, with their massive user bases and robust technological capabilities, have constructed relatively closed yet self-sufficient digital realms. They not only provide basic services like social networking, shopping, and entertainment but also continuously expand their boundaries, venturing into finance, education, healthcare, and other fields, trying to bring all user online behaviors under their control.

From the capabilities currently demonstrated by AI assistants, they seem to be moving toward deconstructing super apps and seizing power from them. After all, besides Qianwen APP's strategic goal of "from dialogue to task execution," Doubao, with 172 million monthly active users, has also started integrating e-commerce, recommending Douyin products in conversations and initially forming a transaction closed loop.

In other words, in the near future, users may not need to open shopping platforms but can simply say to an AI assistant, "Help me find a sunscreen suitable for oily skin, priced under 300 yuan, with the best sales and reputation," and the AI assistant will directly provide answers and purchase links, completing the transaction in the conversation. This deconstructs the "Taobaos'" core process of "search-compare prices-decide." Similarly, users may not need to open local life apps but can say to an AI assistant, "I want to have a nice Japanese dinner with friends tonight near the company, in a quiet place where we can chat," and the AI assistant will call upon relevant information and data to directly recommend and book, bypassing the "Meituans'" model of "find a restaurant-read reviews-place an order."

"Task Execution Ability" Captures User Attention

However, current AI assistants mostly aggregate services and simplify processes within their ecosystems rather than fully replacing cross-ecosystem services. If they continue to prioritize or even exclusively access services from their own factions in the future, they will only establish a closed ecosystem driven by AI that can more efficiently integrate internal resources.

True openness also hinges on whether "Qianwens" are willing and able to access services from "competitors," becoming a truly demand-neutral platform.

Additionally, "Qianwens" will face significant challenges in privacy regulation. As the starting point of demand, the more an AI assistant understands users, the more useful it becomes, but this understanding is predicated on user trust and data sharing. This deep data interaction is no longer just about "what you browsed" but "what you thought." While providing a more personalized and precise service experience, it quietly lays the hidden risk of privacy leaks.

Once this data is misused or leaked, it may not only infringe on user privacy but also trigger a series of chain reactions, such as identity theft and increased fraud risks. Therefore, how to build an impenetrable privacy protection barrier while ensuring the powerful functionality of AI assistants has become a crucial issue that "Qianwens" must address.

What is currently foreseeable is that when AI assistants truly grow to the point of being able to execute tasks and do them well, the resulting transformation will not only be technological but will also profoundly impact the existing internet ecosystem landscape.