Alibaba Group announced on the 11th that it unveiled "Alibaba Wonder on Ice (AWI)," an interactive public installation combining artificial intelligence and cloud computing, at Piazza Castello in Milan on the 7th of this month.
The exhibition enables fans to experience firsthand how virtual shopping experiences powered by AI and cloud technology can evolve and expand during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
Set against the historic landmark of Sforza Castle and Via Dante, Milan's major commercial corridor, "Wonder on Ice" has transformed one of Milan's most iconic public spaces into a live showcase demonstrating in real time how digital technology creates new value at the intersection of culture, commerce, and consumer engagement. Based on its advanced technology stack, Alibaba presents an immersive, interactive virtual shopping experience where AI responds to individual preferences in real time.
Joe Tsai, Chairman of Alibaba Group, said, "Alibaba and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) share a common belief that technology should make the Olympics more exciting, accessible, sustainable, and connected." He added, "Through the power of AI that is helping us work more efficiently, make smarter decisions, and connect more meaningfully, we are moving beyond the 'Cloud Olympics' toward the 'Intelligent Olympics.'"
At the core of this installation is a personalized experience journey where AI guides the virtual shopping experience into a physical environment. When visitors enter and share simple preference information with an AI agent—such as their favorite Milano Cortina 2026 sports—the AI creates a customized experience path throughout the entire space. Visitors can also choose to generate a real-time digital avatar through photo capture, allowing the experience to be more precisely tailored to individual characteristics.
The AI agent then converses with visitors like a virtual stylist, providing personalized recommendations for clothing, fragrances, and makeup. As participants continue making selections, the experience continuously evolves, demonstrating how AI-powered shopping is transitioning beyond static product catalogs into an adaptive, interactive experience that changes according to user choices. Each journey concludes with a personalized AI-generated video featuring the visitor's avatar as the star of a digital gala stage.
This experience is powered by Alibaba's latest AI and cloud technologies, including the Qwen3 series large language and vision models, the Wan 2.2 image-to-video generation model (Wan2.2-I2V-A14B), Taobao Vision's immersive shopping solutions, and Alibaba Cloud's global cloud infrastructure.
The installation was also designed with sustainability in mind. It uses recyclable materials and was installed to leave no permanent traces on the historic plaza.
"Wonder on Ice" will be open to the public from the 7th to the 22nd of this month during the Winter Olympics and from the 6th to the 15th of next month during the Paralympics.