Alibaba's Qwen team released Qwen-Image-2512, an open-source AI image model, as a viable alternative to Google's Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image) on December 31, 2025. The release offers developers and enterprises a freely available option for commercial purposes under the Apache 2.0 license, according to VentureBeat.
The launch addresses concerns surrounding Google's proprietary model, which, while advanced, is tightly integrated with Google's cloud services and carries a premium price tag. Carl Franzen of VentureBeat noted that Gemini 3 Pro Image "raised the bar without offering many viable alternatives" for organizations requiring predictable costs, deployment control, or regional data localization.
Qwen-Image-2512 aims to bridge this gap by providing an open-source solution. The model can be accessed directly through Qwen Chat, and its complete open-source weights are available on platforms like Hugging Face and ModelScope, allowing for inspection and modification.
The release comes after Google's November launch of Nano Banana Pro, which impressed the AI community with its ability to generate complex, text-heavy visuals like infographics and slides with high accuracy. This capability represented a significant advancement in AI image generation, particularly for enterprise applications. However, the proprietary nature of Nano Banana Pro sparked a debate about accessibility and control within the AI field.
Open-source AI models like Qwen-Image-2512 are seen as crucial for fostering innovation and ensuring broader access to AI technology. By making the model's code and data freely available, developers can customize and adapt it to specific needs, potentially leading to new applications and improvements. The Apache 2.0 license further encourages commercial use, allowing businesses to integrate the model into their products and services without restrictive licensing fees.
The Qwen team's release marks another significant milestone in their year of open-source AI model development. The company has consistently released powerful AI models under permissive licenses, contributing to a growing ecosystem of open-source AI tools. The availability of Qwen-Image-2512 is expected to spur further innovation in AI image generation and provide a competitive alternative to proprietary models.
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