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Xiaofei Xu

Ann Cao

As American figure skater Ilia Malinin launched into a quad – a jump with four airborne revolutions – at this month’s Winter Olympics, millions of television viewers witnessed something brand new: a replay of the jump separated into frames that appeared to orbit the athlete.
It was just one of many new perspectives offered to viewers thanks to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, where the technology is not only enhancing broadcasts but also helping to dissect athletic performance in real time.
Backed by Chinese AI firms eager to showcase their capabilities to a global audience, it also reflects a broader push for overseas expansion amid increasingly fierce competition in China.
The real-time 360-degree replay tools, combined with stroboscopic motion analysis, are supported by Chinese tech giant Alibaba’s cloud AI systems, which have featured at multiple recent Games.
Alibaba, a worldwide Olympic partner, is the owner of the South China Morning Post.
Besides helping viewers gain a better understanding of an athlete’s performance, AI-enabled camera technology has also allowed broadcasters to focus on specific competitors, delivering tailored live coverage alongside split-screen views and up-to-the-second data in sports like biathlon – which combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting – according to the International Olympic Committee.
“For us, it’s not sufficient to produce very high-quality coverage just for dedicated sports fans,” said Olympic Broadcasting Services CEO Yiannis Exarchos at a news conference on February 11. “We have a very short period of time to make the sports understandable and attractive. We need to get people engaged.”
Alibaba’s Qwen AI model is also powering the first Olympic AI assistant in the history of the Games. Available on the website for the Milano Cortina Olympics, officials and audience members can use it to get almost instant answers in their native language to any questions they might have about the Games.
The global sports showcase is one of several venues in which domestic tech giants such as ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba are battling for market share.
ByteDance’s Doubao model featured prominently during this year’s Spring Festival Gala television show, while rival firms have used the Lunar New Year marketing season to showcase their own advances.
Alibaba launched its campaign on February 6, promising to distribute 3 billion yuan (US$431 million) in incentives through Qwen.
Tencent and Baidu sought to promote their apps by giving away digital versions of the envelopes of money exchanged during the holiday. ByteDance’s Doubao chatbot joined the fray to offer robots and drones.
“This AI-driven ‘red packet’ war suggests that AI has the potential to create a ubiquitous application,” said Chen Hudong, a researcher at Chinese e-commerce think tank 100ec. “Whoever first achieves explosive user growth for its AI service will become a dominant force.”
Meanwhile, with firms having poured billions of yuan into Lunar New Year promotions designed to win over users for services including artificial intelligence apps, the State Administration for Market Regulation said on February 14 that it had summoned seven tech companies to demand an end to cutthroat “involutionary” competition.


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Figure skater Ilia Malinin, from the United States, competes in the men’s singles free skating team event at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on February 8. Photo: AFP

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Chinese tech firms have been using the Milano Cortina Games to showcase their capabilities to a global audience


Chinese tech firms have been using the Milano Cortina Games to showcase their capabilities to a global audience.


How Chinese artificial intelligence put a new spin on Winter Olympics action

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Chinese tech firms have been using the Milano Cortina Games to showcase their capabilities to a global audience

Chinese tech firms have been using the Milano Cortina Games to showcase their capabilities to a global audience