Alibaba Group temporarily suspended the issuance of promotional coupons through its artificial-intelligence chatbot after a surge in demand overloaded the system, interrupting a campaign designed to accelerate consumer use of AI-enabled shopping services.
The pause occurred during a Lunar New Year promotion that allowed users to obtain discounts and place orders directly through the chatbot interface. Alibaba said traffic volumes exceeded expectations, prompting a temporary halt in coupon distribution while the system was stabilised.
According to the company, more than 10 million orders were placed within nine hours of the campaign’s launch. The coupons remain valid until 28 February and were part of a broader effort to encourage users to interact with Alibaba’s retail ecosystem through AI-driven prompts rather than traditional app navigation.
In a statement posted to its official Weibo account, the chatbot team asked users for patience, citing exceptionally high participation and ongoing work to restore normal service levels.
The campaign formed part of a wider investment by Alibaba to position its chatbot as a transactional gateway across its platforms. The company has committed around 3 billion yuan ($433 million) to promote the service, which enables users to complete purchases, bookings, and other actions through conversational commands, effectively embedding AI into the customer journey.
This approach reflects a broader shift in the global AI landscape, as technology companies move beyond question-and-answer chatbots toward systems designed to initiate actions on behalf of users. Platforms including Google and OpenAI have similarly expanded their models’ roles into booking services, executing tasks, and facilitating payments, increasing the operational demands placed on AI infrastructure.
At the same time, the disruption highlights the practical constraints of scaling such systems under peak demand. Even with significant capital investment, AI services integrated directly into commerce workflows must withstand sharp traffic spikes driven by incentives, seasonal promotions, and user curiosity.
Alibaba’s push also sits within an intensifying competitive environment in China. Rival technology companies such as Tencent and Baidu have committed hundreds of millions of yuan to promote their own consumer AI applications, particularly during high-traffic holiday periods.
Similar dynamics are emerging in the US and Europe, where large language models are increasingly embedded into existing platforms to capture transaction-oriented user behaviour.
Alibaba said it continues to optimise capacity to support future campaigns and did not indicate any change to its longer-term AI rollout plans.
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