Set in opposition to the historic backdrop of the Sforza Fortress and the industrial artery of By way of Dante, AWI turns considered one of Milan’s most recognizable public areas right into a reside demonstration of how digital applied sciences can intersect with tradition, commerce and shopper engagement. Powered by Alibaba’s superior expertise stack, the showcase illustrates how synthetic intelligence can allow immersive, interactive digital retail experiences that reply dynamically to particular person preferences.
“Alibaba and the IOC share a easy perception collectively: expertise ought to allow the Olympic Video games to be extra thrilling, accessible, sustainable and related,” mentioned Joe Tsai, Chairman of Alibaba Group. “With the ability of AI, we’re transferring from “Cloud Olympics” towards “Clever Olympics”, as AI helps us work higher, make smarter selections, and join extra meaningfully.”
“I’m delighted to be right here on the Alibaba Group Showcase, celebrating 9 years of our partnership which represents one of the vital important technological transformations in Olympic historical past. Constructing on improvements delivered at latest Video games, Milano Cortina 2026 represents a significant step ahead in cloud-based, AI-enabled broadcasting and operations, setting a brand new benchmark for future editionsn. Along with Alibaba, we’re not solely making certain the Video games stay environment friendly and sustainable, but in addition stay partaking by sports activities media expertise to audiences, athletes and followers worldwide”, mentioned Kirsty Coventry, President of the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC)”
A Personalised Journey Guided by AI
On the core of the set up is an AI-guided journey that brings digital retail right into a bodily setting. Upon entry, guests are invited to share easy preferences—similar to their favourite Milano Cortina 2026 sport—with an AI agent, which makes use of these inputs to curate a customized journey all through the house. Guests may select to have their photograph taken to generate a real-time digital avatar, additional tailoring the journey to the person.
The AI agent then acts as a digital stylist, interacting with guests and providing tailor-made suggestions for clothes, perfume, and make-up. As members make picks, the expertise evolves constantly, demonstrating how AI-enabled retail can transfer past static product catalogues in direction of adaptive, interactive experiences. Every journey culminates in a customized AI-generated video through which the customer’s avatar turns into the central character in a digital gala setting.
The expertise is supported by Alibaba’s newest AI and cloud applied sciences, together with its Qwen3 sequence of huge language and imaginative and prescient fashions, Wan 2.2 image-to-video technology mannequin, and Taobao Imaginative and prescient’s immersive procuring resolution, and Alibaba Cloud’s world cloud infrastructure.
Structure Impressed by Ice and Gentle
Spanning 40 meters, the set up consists of two architectural parts:
- The Snow Globe, a spherical pavilion that serves as an interactive house in the course of the day and transforms right into a projection floor for AI-generated visuals within the night
- The Crystalized Skirt Constructing, a sculptural construction impressed by the crystalline geometry of frost and snowflakes, which homes the immersive AI-powered digital retail expertise.
Designed with sustainability in thoughts, the set up makes use of recyclable supplies and leaves no everlasting footprint on the historic plaza.
AWI will probably be open to the general public from February 7–22, 2026, in the course of the Olympic Winter Video games, and March 6–15, 2026, in the course of the Paralympic Winter Video games.
Showcasing the First AI-Generated Olympic Fan Artwork Assortment
The opening of AWI additionally marked the disclosing of the outcomes of the Alibaba Cloud AIGC Championship @ Milano Cortina 2026, the primary Olympic fan engagement initiative of its type developed in partnership with the Worldwide Olympic Committee, the Olympic Museum and the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee.
Utilizing Alibaba’s Wan video technology fashions, followers from around the globe created unique video artworks impressed by 4 winter sports activities: determine skating, quick observe velocity skating, alpine snowboarding, and snowboarding.
A curated collection of the highest 100 works is now being displayed on the floor of the Snow Globe. This assortment represents the primary AI-generated artworks to be displayed by the Olympic Museum positioned in Lausanne, Switzerland. Ten creators will probably be awarded tickets to attend the Olympic Winter Video games in particular person.
By combining Olympic inspiration with accessible AI expertise, Alibaba Surprise on Ice invitations followers worldwide to transcend spectating, permitting them to step into the Video games, specific their “vibe,” and be part of the Olympic Motion in a wholly new approach.
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About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group is a world expertise firm centered on e-commerce and cloud computing. We allow retailers, manufacturers and retailers to market, promote and interact with customers by offering digital and logistics infrastructure, effectivity instruments and huge advertising and marketing attain. We empower enterprises with our main cloud infrastructure, companies and work collaboration capabilities to facilitate their digital transformation and develop their companies.
