Alibaba just launched HappyHorse 1.1 with full enterprise API access, entering a market where OpenAI has shut down Sora and ByteDance has paused Seedance. The top-ranked AI video model is now from China, and it is actively selling to enterprise teams.
- Alibaba Cloud launched HappyHorse 1.1 on June 22 with full enterprise API access on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, at a 40% discount for the first two weeks.
- HappyHorse 1.0 holds No. 2 on Arena.ai’s Video Arena leaderboards, scoring 1,444 in both text-to-video and image-to-video, placing it 69 points ahead of Google Veo-3.1 in text-to-video.
- OpenAI shut down Sora on March 24 due to unsustainable compute costs, and ByteDance shelved the international rollout of Seedance 2.0 after copyright disputes with Hollywood studios.
- The enterprise rollout includes SLAs, security certifications, and regional compliance, backed by Alibaba’s $52.7 billion infrastructure buildout.
What Happened
Alibaba Cloud launched HappyHorse 1.1 on June 22 with full enterprise API access on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio, entering a video generation market that has contracted sharply.
The release comes with a 40% API discount for the first two weeks. It carries enterprise SLAs, security certifications, and regional compliance, backed by a $52.7 billion infrastructure buildout.
OpenAI shut down Sora on March 24 after the product cost roughly $1 million per day to operate while generating only $2.1 million in total revenue, and ByteDance then shelved the international rollout of Seedance 2.0 following copyright disputes with Hollywood studios. That left Alibaba as the only enterprise-grade AI video provider still actively selling in the market.
HappyHorse 1.0 currently holds the No. 2 position on Arena.ai’s Video Arena leaderboards, scoring 1,444 in both text-to-video and image-to-video. That puts it 69 points ahead of Google Veo-3.1 in text-to-video and 23 points ahead of xAI’s Grok-Imagine-Video in image-to-video.
Why It Matters
For Creative and Marketing teams that were evaluating or building on Sora and Seedance, HappyHorse 1.1 is the most credible enterprise alternative now available, a development an AI trends intelligence platform like Relve has been tracking closely. The rankings are based on blind human preference votes from real users, which is harder to game than self-reported benchmark claims.
The main uncertainty is geopolitical: the Pentagon added Alibaba to its list of Chinese military companies on June 8, and that designation will add friction to procurement reviews at US companies with government exposure or defense supply chain connections. Alibaba’s regional compliance framing addresses some concerns, but not all enterprise security reviews will clear it quickly.
Alibaba unveils HappyHorse 1.1 — an upgraded video generation model designed to boost creative quality, controllability, and efficiency for pro content creators. Now with improved instruction following for better user input understanding.
Alibaba Group, @AlibabaGroup
Alibaba unveils HappyHorse 1.1🎥—an upgraded video generation model designed to boost creative quality, controllability, and efficiency for pro content creators.
Now with improved instruction following for better user input understanding!
Read more: https://t.co/sHoqKnb00l… https://t.co/QX6euqqqJO
— Alibaba Group (@AlibabaGroup) June 22, 2026
Bottom Line
Enterprise AI video has gone from three credible contenders to one in under six months. Whether that consolidation favors Alibaba long-term depends on whether Western enterprise teams can get a Chinese-owned API through internal compliance reviews.
For Creative teams actively looking for a Sora or Seedance replacement, HappyHorse 1.1 is worth evaluating now. The 40% launch discount makes the test cheap, and the No. 2 global ranking gives it enough credibility to bring into a vendor conversation.
