Customer overload crashes Alibaba’s AI chatbot — stops issuing coupons, asks shoppers for patience

Alibaba’s artificial intelligence chatbot Qwen has temporarily stopped issuing coupons due to customer overload, hampering a new campaign to promote the tool’s capabilities beyond simply answering questions to assist shopping.

Qwen began offering coupons to users on Friday that allow for in-app purchases from Alibaba-owned retail platforms using chatbot prompts alone. The initiative is the first phase in a 3-billion-yuan ($433 million) plan to attract more users to the chatbot during China’s annual Spring Festival holiday.