Alibaba vs 
NVIDIA
Verdict
- Alibaba's flagship leads: Qwen3.8 Max at 63.3 vs Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B at 55.7.
- Alibaba has the better model in 4 of 4 price bands.
- NVIDIA's fastest ranked model (Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, 288 tok/s) beats Alibaba's (Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct, 244 tok/s).
- Alibaba publishes more open-weights models (48 vs 20).
- Alibaba ships more often: one model every 7 days against every 36.
Best model per price band
Each provider’s highest-index model below the price ceiling. Purple marks the winner of the band.
| Price band | Alibaba | NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Under $0.50/M | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 60.3$0.230/M | Nemotron 3 Super 120B A12B thinking 50.6$0.450/M |
| Under $2/M | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 60.3$0.230/M | Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B thinking 55.7$1.13/M |
| Under $10/M | Qwen3.8 Max max 63.3$3.00/M | Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B thinking 55.7$1.13/M |
| Any price | Qwen3.8 Max max 63.3$3.00/M | Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B thinking 55.7$1.13/M |
Line-up
| Metric | Alibaba | NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Flagship index | 63.3 | 55.7 |
| Ranked models | 54 | 16 |
| Open-weights models | 48 | 20 |
| Cheapest ranked, $/M | $0.060 | $0.070 |
| Fastest ranked, tok/s | 244 | 288 |
| Release cadence, days | 7 | 36 |
| Last release | 17 Sept 2026 | 23 Oct 2026 |
| Next expected | 21 Sept 2026 – 26 Sept 2026 | 13 Nov 2026 – 12 Dec 2026 |