The Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026, taking place in Senegal from October 31 to November 13, 2026, marks a historic milestone for African sport. Alibaba Group, in partnership with the International Olympic Committee and the Dakar 2026 Organizing Committee, will power the event with its cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. This collaboration aims to optimize operations and elevate spectator engagement for Dakar 2026, delivering a lasting digital legacy for Senegal.
Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee, expressed her delight in the partnership, stating that Alibaba's technology will help bring this historic moment to life. The Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games is the first Olympic event taking place on African soil. Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, President of the Dakar 2026 Organizing Committee, emphasized the importance of technology in creating a connected experience for young athletes, visitors, and audiences.
Alibaba's cloud and AI technology will support the event's digital operations, including a private cloud built on Alibaba Cloud's Apsara Stack. This scalable and secure cloud platform will host applications and services such as ticketing and e-visa processing. The ticketing system, built by Alibaba Cloud, will handle online ticket sales and on-site access control for over one million tickets across all seven venues and the official Festival Site.
The highly elastic infrastructure will ensure seamless performance during high-demand sales windows and peak entry periods. Upon completion of the Games, the private cloud infrastructure will be handed over to Senegal to serve as a national cloud platform, supporting the country's long-term digital transformation. This will leave a lasting technological legacy, enabling businesses and developers in Senegal to tap into Alibaba's full-stack capabilities for AI innovation.
Alibaba's Qwen open-weight models, one of the world's most popular AI model families, will be available through this cloud platform. Qwen boasts 460 open-weight models and over 3 billion global downloads, supporting over 200 languages worldwide. This technology will foster openness, respect, and co-creation in the host city, embracing Senegal's spirit of Teranga, the Wolof concept of hospitality.
At the Opening Ceremony of Dakar 2026, the Organizing Committee unveiled an AI-powered celebration of drum performance created using Alibaba's WAN video generation model. Visitors can also step into a kiosk hosted by Alibaba to generate a short video of themselves playing the Senegalese Sabar Drum. An AI agent powered by Alibaba's cloud-based AI technology answers questions about Dakar 2026 and the history of the Youth Olympic Games.
Beyond technology infrastructure, Alibaba is collaborating with the Dakar 2026 Organizing Committee to drive local youth development initiatives. Alibaba Philanthropy has expanded its Panda Pack Project to Senegal, providing sports equipment packages to the Jeunesse en Jeux engagement program. The Alibaba Cloud Tech Academy also provides free online cloud computing training for Senegalese youth under 35, with over 10,000 registrations.
Key points
- Alibaba's technology will support the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026, optimizing operations and elevating spectator engagement.
- The event marks the first Olympic Games taking place on African soil.
- Alibaba's contribution to Dakar 2026 builds on its proven track record as a Worldwide Olympic Partner at previous events.
