In the ever-heating race for AI dominance, China’s tech giants are finding themselves locked in a battle not just for innovation—but now, for originality.
The buzz this week? Huawei’s AI model allegedly copied Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5.
Yep, you read that right.
Let’s break it down.
🔍 What’s the Claim?
A mysterious entity called HonestAGI dropped a bombshell paper on GitHub, alleging that Huawei’s latest large language model—Pangu Pro Moe—is suspiciously similar to Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 14B model.
The term used? “Extraordinary correlation.”
That’s code for: This looks copied.
Their theory? Huawei didn’t train Pangu Pro Moe from scratch. Instead, they claim Huawei “upcycled” Qwen—meaning they took an existing model, tweaked it, and passed it off as their own.
🧠Who’s Saying What?
Huawei’s Noah’s Ark Lab, its AI research division, didn’t waste any time clapping back.
In a public statement, they denied everything.
“Our Pangu model is not based on incremental training of other manufacturers’ models,” they said.
They insist it’s 100% homegrown, independently trained, and even the first large model to run fully on Huawei’s own Ascend chips.
As for Alibaba? Radio silence so far. No public comment.
And HonestAGI? No one knows exactly who they are. Anonymous researchers? A rival group? An internal whistleblower?
🧪 Why Does It Matter?
Because this isn’t just a case of one company borrowing code from another. It’s a serious accusation involving:
- Potential copyright violations
- False claims in technical documentation
- Misrepresentation of training investment
In the world of AI ethics and open-source accountability, this kind of thing can destroy credibility—fast.
🏗️ A Tale of Two Models: Qwen vs. Pangu
Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 14B is part of a newer family of models that launched in May 2024. It’s compact enough to run on PCs and smartphones, making it ideal for consumer use—chatbots, assistants, productivity apps, you name it.
Huawei’s Pangu models, on the other hand, are built more for enterprise applications: think government, banking, and manufacturing.
Both are smart. Both are powerful. But if one was copied from the other? That’s not just competition—it’s plagiarism.
📉 What’s the Fallout?
Social media and tech forums in China are buzzing with the story. And this isn’t the first time the Chinese AI space has seen some drama.
Earlier this year, startup DeepSeek shook up the scene with a powerful open-source model that rivaled offerings from Silicon Valley—at a fraction of the cost.
It sparked a wave of new model releases as China’s tech giants tried to catch up.
So maybe, just maybe, the pressure to release something “next-gen” fast got to Huawei?
⚖️ The Open-Source Grey Area
Here’s where it gets murky.
Huawei admitted that it used some open-source components—but didn’t say which ones. And while open-source use is fine (encouraged, even), you need to follow the license agreements and disclose what you used.
Transparency matters. Especially in a field where trust is everything.
đź”— Want to Dive Deeper?
Check out these sources:
- Huawei’s Official Pangu Page (GitCode)
- Alibaba Qwen Project (Hugging Face)
- Original HonestAGI Report on GitHub (if still live)
- Reuters Source
🧠So… Who Should You Believe?
At this point, it’s a classic case of he said, she said.
Huawei is defending its model. Alibaba is staying quiet. And the internet? Well, it’s doing what it does best—speculating wildly.
One thing’s for sure: with AI being the next trillion-dollar industry, the stakes are sky-high.
Final Thought
Whether or not Huawei copied Alibaba, the race to rule AI isn’t slowing down. This incident just highlights how intense (and messy) it’s getting.
And if you’re an AI researcher, developer, or just a tech enthusiast, keep your eyes on this space.
Because life in the AI world moves fast—and sometimes, it gets a little too close for comfort.
