Alibaba vs JD: Getting Singles Day packages to your door
For the past few weeks, Chinese e-commerce titans have been racking their brains as the year's largest shopping spree, Singles' Day is fast approaching on November 11. This isn't just a competition of who has the best marketing stunts or the biggest subsidies for vendors; the life and death of the online retailers also depend on those who deliver the parcels safe and on-time.
This year's Singles…
China vs US: Who is winning the big AI battle?
China and the US are becoming the world’s biggest rivals in artificial intelligence: it’s Luke vs Darth Vader, Alien vs Predator, Rocky vs Ivan Drago. The Chinese government's pivot to become the leader in this technology has created plenty of hype, but how are China's ambitious AI aspirations playing out on the ground? Research by startup database IT Juzi and Tencent News offers a new view of…
We went to Alibaba’s Computing Conference to check out the future of the Ali ecosystem
China's e-commerce giant Alibaba not only wants to be the best e-commerce player in the market, but also wants to deepen its technological prowess.
At Alibaba's annual Computing Conference 2017 held in Hangzhou on October 11th, not only did the company unveil its plans to invest $15 billion over the next 3 years in its R&D, but they also showcased their technology developments to its…
Ant Financial is opening its unstaffed solution to merchants
Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial is adding new fuel to the quick rise of automated stores in China this Tuesday by opening its unmanned technologies to merchants.
The Alipay solutions will enable automated customer ID authentication, risk control, payment, and clearance, allowing customers to enjoy service provided by merchants without the help of their staff. The same technology has…
Video: Alibaba shows off face recognition at its cashier-less concept store
In China, the future of retail is already here. Alibaba Group launched its second Taobao Maker Festival on July 8th and introduced the Tao Café, an experimental cashier-less coffee shop driven by face recognition. Alibaba’s AI and data technologies have made it possible for customers to shop in this offline store without going through the time-consuming process of queuing to pay.
When a user…