Alibaba Group has unveiled Alibaba Wonder on Ice (AWI), an immersive public installation in Milan’s Piazza del Castello Sforzesco. The company also detailed how Alibaba Cloud and artificial intelligence will power the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Together, these initiatives demonstrate how the Games are evolving from a “Cloud Olympics” to an “Intelligent Olympics.” This evolution is driven by advanced AI and cloud technologies.
Set against the historic Sforza Castle and Via Dante, AWI transforms one of Milan’s most iconic public spaces into a living showcase. The experience highlights how digital innovation can intersect with culture, commerce, and sport.
Open to the public during the Olympic Winter Games (February 7–22, 2026) and Paralympic Winter Games (March 6–15, 2026), the installation highlights how AI can create personalized, interactive retail and entertainment experiences. These experiences are inspired by the Olympic Movement.
EU announces $1.16 billion plan to boost AI adoption in key industries and public sector
An AI-guided retail experience
At the heart of AWI is a personalized journey powered by Alibaba’s AI and cloud infrastructure. Visitors share simple preferences, such as their favorite Milano Cortina 2026 sport, with an AI agent. The agent curates a tailored digital experience. Guests can generate real-time avatars and receive customized recommendations for fashion, fragrance, and makeup. AI acts as a virtual stylist to guide these choices.
As selections are made, the experience dynamically evolves. Eventually, it culminates in a personalized AI-generated gala video featuring the visitor’s avatar. The installation is supported by Alibaba’s Qwen3 large language and vision models. It also utilizes Wan 2.2 image-to-video generation technology, Taobao Vision immersive shopping solutions, and Alibaba Cloud’s global infrastructure.
The 40-meter installation includes two architectural elements:
The Snow Globe, a spherical pavilion serving as an interactive daytime venue and evening projection surface for AI-generated visuals.
The Crystallized Skirt Building, inspired by frost and snowflake geometry, housing the immersive retail experience.
Designed with recyclable materials, the structure leaves no permanent footprint on the historic plaza.
First AI-generated Olympic fan art collection
AWI also features the results of the Alibaba Cloud AIGC Championship @ Milano Cortina 2026. This is the first Olympic fan engagement initiative of its kind. In partnership with the IOC, the Olympic Museum, and the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee, fans worldwide used Alibaba’s Wan video generation models. As a result, they created original artworks inspired by figure skating, short track speed skating, alpine skiing, and snowboarding.
The top 100 works are projected onto the Snow Globe, marking the first time AI-generated artworks are displayed by the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Ten creators will receive tickets to attend the Games in person.
“Alibaba and the IOC share a simple belief together: technology should enable the Olympic Games to be more exciting, accessible, sustainable, and connected,” said Joe Tsai, Chairman of Alibaba Group. “With the power of AI, we are moving from “Cloud Olympics” toward “Intelligent Olympics”, as AI helps us work better, make smarter decisions, and connect more meaningfully.”
IOC President Kirsty Coventry added that Milano Cortina 2026 represents “a major step forward in cloud-based, AI-enabled broadcasting and operations, setting a new benchmark for future editions.”
Powering Milano Cortina 2026 with cloud and AI
Beyond the public showcase, Alibaba Cloud — the digital technology backbone of Alibaba Group — is working with Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) and the IOC. Together, they will deploy next-generation cloud and AI solutions across broadcasting, operations, and fan engagement.
Building on innovations introduced at Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022, and Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026 marks the most advanced integration of AI technologies in Olympic history.
Immersive real-time 360º Replay
An upgraded Real-Time 360º Replay system will deliver dynamic replays with fluid camera movement and advanced visual effects. AI algorithms separate athletes from complex backgrounds such as snow and ice. Consequently, this enables 3D reconstructions of key moments within 15–20 seconds for live broadcast use.
The system will cover 17 sports and disciplines. It introduces a new “Spacetime Slices” feature, visualizing multiple phases of an athlete’s movement in a single composite image. As a result, this enhances performance analysis.
AI-powered media processing and search
OBS is developing an Automatic Media Description (AMD) System powered by Alibaba’s Qwen large language model. The system automatically identifies athletes, generates event descriptions, and tags video assets within seconds. Using natural language queries, such as “find the figure skating gold medal performance,” production teams can retrieve content instantly, improving efficiency and storytelling.
Cloud broadcasting at scale
Cloud-based broadcasting continues to expand through OBS Live Cloud, which will support 39 broadcasters at Milano Cortina 2026. The platform will deliver 428 live video feeds, including 26 ultra-high-definition streams and 72 audio feeds. By replacing satellite links with cloud delivery, broadcasters gain flexibility, cost savings, and resilience.
For the first time, the OBS Olympic Video Player will stream high-definition live coverage using Alibaba Cloud’s infrastructure. In turn, this enables smaller broadcasters to access professional-grade capabilities without heavy upfront investment.
Olympic AI assistants and a living archive
Milano Cortina 2026 will introduce the first large-language-model-based system in Olympic history. The “Olympic AI Assistant,” embedded on olympics.com and powered by Alibaba’s Qwen models, provides multilingual conversational support and real-time event information to fans worldwide.
The same technology enhances visitor experiences at the Olympic Museum with personalized AI audio guides. It also supports National Olympic Committees through a secure AI-powered portal for document retrieval and translation.
Alibaba Cloud is also expanding its Sports AI archiving solution, managing over eight petabytes of historical Olympic media. With AI tagging, multimodal search, and conversational retrieval, the system transforms decades of footage into a searchable, living knowledge library.
Dr. Feifei Li, Senior Vice President of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, President of International Business, said: “Each Olympic Games presents unique challenges in scale, geography, and complexity. For Milano Cortina 2026, we are applying cloud and AI capabilities to make broadcasts more dynamic, workflows more efficient, and Olympic moments more accessible to audiences around the world.”
Ilario Corna, Chief Technology and Information Officer, International Olympic Committee, said: “Milano Cortina 2026 marks a defining moment in the integration of AI into the Olympic Movement. Alibaba Cloud has been incredible in putting these leading capabilities to work in very practical, helpful ways—not only enhancing the everyday experience for our fans through first use of LLM technologies at the Olympics, but building intelligent systems such as Sports AI that will preserve historic Olympic moments for generations to come.”
Since becoming a Worldwide TOP Partner of the IOC in 2017, Alibaba Group has helped place cloud computing and AI at the core of the Olympic Games. The company has created immersive fan installations in Milan and AI-powered broadcasting. Moreover, intelligent media systems and next-generation archives are now part of the experience. As a result, Milano Cortina 2026 signals a new era in how the world’s largest sporting event is delivered, experienced, and remembered.
