The Lunar New Year isn’t just about family and fireworks anymore. China’s tech giants are turning the holiday into an all-out digital battlefield, and Alibaba‘s AI assistant, Qwen, is leading the charge with a 3 billion yuan (431 million USD) Spring Festival giveaway that has everyone scrambling for free bubble tea.
Imagine this: telling your AI to snag you a boba for basically nothing. Qwen users in China are doing exactly that, thanks to its new agentic features that can handle everything from food delivery to train tickets. The buzz is real—within just nine hours of the promotion, 10 million orders for discounted bubble tea flooded through Qwen, pushing it to the top of China’s App Store charts alongside Tencent’s Yuanbao.
It’s a savvy move to hook a new generation on AI, transforming chatbots from mere tools into everyday companions. With traditional red envelopes going digital and now free bubble tea on tap, the Spring Festival has become the ultimate playground for tech adoption. It’s clear that in the race for hearts, minds, and app downloads, a sweet, sweet cup of boba is proving to be an unbeatable strategy.
Cover image via Nano Banana Pro/RADII.
