Alibaba Enters The AI Race With Qwen 2.5-Max: “It Beats GPT And DeepSeek”

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

January 29, 2025

In a bold move, Alibaba has unveiled the next iteration of its AI model, the Qwen 2.5-Max, which the Chinese tech giant claims surpasses DeepSeek-V3, the breakthrough model from the rapidly rising Chinese AI startup, DeepSeek.

The timing of the Qwen 2.5-Max’s launch, coinciding with the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, highlights the mounting pressure DeepSeek’s impressive rise has placed on both international and domestic competitors. As most Chinese citizens take time off to celebrate with their families, Alibaba’s announcement signals a competitive response to DeepSeek’s momentum.

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According to Alibaba’s cloud division, Qwen 2.5-Max outperforms the latest AI models, including GPT-4, DeepSeek-V3, and Llama-3.1-405B, which are some of the most advanced open-source systems available.

DeepSeek made waves on January 10 with the debut of its AI assistant based on the DeepSeek-V3 model. Shortly after, on January 20, it launched the R1 model, sparking a major reaction in Silicon Valley. The launch sent tech stocks into a downward spiral, with investors questioning the massive spending plans of top US AI firms, given DeepSeek’s much lower development and operating costs.

Adding to the excitement, just two days after DeepSeek’s R1 debut, ByteDance—owner of TikTok—revealed an update to its core AI model. The company claimed it outperformed OpenAI’s GPT in AIME, a complex AI benchmark that evaluates a model’s ability to understand and execute intricate instructions.

This claim mirrors DeepSeek’s assertions that its R1 model is more efficient than OpenAI’s offerings across multiple performance metrics.

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Cyprus’ Strong Youth Employment Rate Still Does Not Guarantee Early Independence

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 16, 2026

Young people in Cyprus have a relatively high employment rate, but they leave the parental home later than the EU average, according to Eurostat data.

Cypriots left home at an average age of 27 in 2025, compared with 26.3 years across the EU. At the same time, 72.3% of people aged 20 to 29 in Cyprus were employed, well above the EU average of 65.5%.

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Strong Employment Does Not Mean Early Independence

Only nine countries recorded higher youth employment rates than Cyprus. Iceland led at 85.3%, followed by the Netherlands at 84%, Malta at 82.1%, Switzerland at 78.3% and Germany at 77%.

Norway recorded 76.5%, Ireland 76.1%, Denmark 74.8% and Austria 74.6%. Eurostat said countries where young people leave home earlier generally tend to have higher youth employment rates.

Southern Europe Sees Later Moves

Finland had the lowest average age for leaving the parental home at 21.4 years, followed by Denmark at 21.8 and Estonia and Lithuania at 22.7. Croatia recorded the highest average at 31.5 years, followed by Greece and Slovakia at 30.9. Spain and Italy both stood at 30.2 years.

Across the EU, the average has remained close to 26 since 2002, rising only slightly from 26.2 years in 2024 to 26.3 years in 2025.

Cyprus Labour Market Is Cooling

The figures come as Cyprus’ labor market shows some signs of easing, although demand for workers remains relatively strong by European standards.

Separate Eurostat data showed Cyprus had the EU’s largest annual decline in its job vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2026. The rate fell to 2.6% from 3.3% a year earlier, but remained above the EU average of 2.0% and the euro area average of 2.1%.

Cost Of Living Remains A Factor

Housing and other living costs can also affect how quickly young workers establish independent households. Eurostat reported that Cyprus’ household consumption price level was 89.2% of the EU average in 2025.

A relatively lower overall price level does not eliminate affordability pressures for people on modest incomes. For younger workers, the issue can be whether wages are sufficient to cover rent, utilities, food and other basic expenses.

Cyprus therefore combines relatively high youth employment with a later transition to independent living, suggesting that access to work and the ability to afford a separate household do not always move together.

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