SHANGHAI (Technology) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is set to invest 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) into an AI and IoT system centred around its Tmall Genie smart speaker.
Alibaba’s announcement comes it continues its push into emerging technologies and business sectors beyond online shopping.
The amount of $1.4 billion will be used towards the addition of more content to Tmall Genie and for the development of proprietary technology.
The Tmall Genie’s first model was launched by Alibaba back in 2017.
Similar to Amazon Echo, which is not available for sale in China, it can interact with users through a voice interface to play music, give out weather information, and to do other functions.
Alibaba has since then released several models. Some include devices with displays too.
The Tmall Genie’s latest model was announced on Wednesday. It costs 549 yuan and has a 10-inch screen.
(Photo syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.