From Startup Fortune · · 1m
Qwen4 Launch Doubt as Alibaba's Open Source Promise Falters
Alibaba's Qwen4 model faces open source uncertainty after key researchers left.
In brief
Alibaba's Qwen4 model faces open source uncertainty after key researchers left. Alibaba's Qwen4 model may not launch open source after recent leadership exits and closed Qwen3.7 release. Originally reported by Startup Fortune.
Qwen4 Launch Timeline
Qwen4 is close to launch with Alibaba Cloud CTO Feifei Li saying it could arrive within the week.
Qwen Code Repository Hints
Code changes in qwen-code repository reference qwen4-max, qwen4-plus and qwen4-coder-plus with hints of 1 million token context window.
Open Weights Missing
No model card, no license and no downloadable weights exist for Qwen4 yet.
Open Source Promise Broken
Qwen3.6 launched with open weights but Qwen3.7 never got open weights, now closed.
Leadership Exodus
Junyang Lin, Yu Bowen and Hui Binyuan left Alibaba within days of Qwen3.6 launch.
Qwen4 Context Window
Qwen4 is expected to have a 1 million token context window for local models.
Open Source Doubt
Alibaba's community questions whether open weights are being quietly phased out after leadership exits.
What it means
Alibaba's Qwen4 model may not launch open source after recent leadership exits and closed Qwen3.7 release.
