Model WarsApril 5, 2026via The Decoder

Alibaba's Qwen team makes AI models think deeper with new algorithm

Why it matters

This algorithmic breakthrough addresses a fundamental limitation in how AI models learn to reason, potentially giving Alibaba's Qwen models a significant competitive advantage in complex reasoning tasks.

Key signals

  • Doubles the length of thought processes
  • New algorithm weights each step based on downstream impact
  • Addresses reinforcement learning limitation where every token gets same reward

The hook

Alibaba's Qwen team just cracked the reasoning bottleneck that's been holding back AI models.

Reinforcement learning hits a wall with reasoning models because every token gets the same reward. A new algorithm from Alibaba's Qwen team fixes this by weighting each step based on how much it shapes what comes next, doubling the length of thought processes in the process. The article Alibaba's Qwen team makes AI models think deeper with new algorithm appeared first on The Decoder.
Relevance score:75/100

Get stories like this every Friday.

The 5 AI stories that matter — free, in your inbox.

Free forever. No spam.