Hangzhou, China – Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, has recently unveiled its continued AI-driven enhancements across industries in Asia, including technology development, imaging, travel, beauty, and healthcare.
According to the firm, organisations in 2024 have transformed their operations and customer engagement strategies using Alibaba Cloud’s advanced cloud solutions, ranging from the revamped AI infrastructure to proprietary Qwen LLM series and advanced AI analytics. These technologies and products have grown beyond just operational tools.
For instance, Japan’s Lightblue, a University of Tokyo startup, has employed Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen to support the development of its Japanese-language LLMs. Through its architecture and training capabilities, the company was able to elevate its offerings for East Asian languages, specifically Japanese.
To further enhance efficiency and security, the company adopted additional Alibaba Cloud services, including elastic compute service, server load balancer, and object storage service.
On the other hand, Malaysia’s Pictureworks, an innovative photography imaging solutions firm, has leveraged Alibaba Cloud’s extensive AI and cloud technologies to transform the flexibility and quality of high-resolution image capture. Said partnership has enabled the utilisation of Alibaba Cloud’s robust and secure technologies, which allowed Pictureworks to produce more than 150,000 photos at an award-winning theme park in Hong Kong.
Moreover, Atlas has also implemented a digital chatbot that offers 24/7 customer support, efficiently addressing partner enquiries related to booking processes and payment options. This collaboration has helped Atlas evolve from a startup in Singapore to a leading player in the industry, transforming the low-cost flight market with its cutting-edge travel platform.
Drunk Elephant, a renowned skincare brand acquired by Shiseido in 2019, further used Alibaba Cloud’s latest foundation model Qwen-max in its new customer chatbot named DRUNKGPT to enhance customer interactions in China.
This 24/7 AI-powered skincare assistant responds to enquiries about product recommendations and skincare tips with nuanced and personalised responses. The collaboration aims to deliver a richer brand experience through innovative digital engagement opportunities.
Meanwhile, Haleon China, a leading consumer health company, has adopted Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen Large Language Model (LLM) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology to launch iNutrition, an AI-driven nutrition assistant for Chinese consumers. This solution combines Qwen’s advanced capabilities with Haleon’s comprehensive nutritional expertise to provide accurate responses and actionable guidance for consumer enquiries.
Following these initiatives, Selina Yuan, president of International Business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, commented, “We are thrilled to witness our robust cloud infrastructure and AI offerings empowering organisations across a diverse range of industries to further drive transformation in 2024 with our partners together.”
“As the leading cloud service provider in Asia, we remain committed to helping our customers enhance their operations and deepen their connections with consumers, while collaborating with our ecosystem partners to unlock the full potential of AI and cloud technologies for businesses of all sizes,” she added.
Shunichi Taniguchi, director and senior researcher at Lightblue, also said, “Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen has proven to be the best publicly available option for supporting Japanese. By fine-tuning our LLM with Qwen, we significantly improved its accuracy. This collaboration elevates our AI solutions and advances our mission to democratise technology in East Asia.”
Meanwhile, Sharon Tse, CEO at Pictureworks, remarked, “Alibaba Cloud’s technology has fundamentally transformed how we capture images at Pictureworks. The flexibility it provides allows us to produce high-quality photographs without relying on traditional setups, like green screens. This innovation not only enhances the quality of our work but also enriches the customer experience by creating more authentic and dynamic photographic memories.”
“Alibaba Cloud has played a key role in Atlas’s rapid expansion by offering a scalable, secure infrastructure. We were drawn to Alibaba Cloud primarily for its developer-friendly user interface. Our collaboration has now extended to the field of AI, which has significantly enhanced efficiency and improved customers’ experience,” said Mary Li, Founder & CEO of Atlas.
In addition, Andy Cai, brand director at Drunk Elephant China, further shared, “Utilising Alibaba Cloud’s advanced AI technologies allows us to create a more personalised and responsive experience for our customers. We are excited about the potential of DRUNKGPT to transform how consumers connect with our brand.””By integrating Alibaba Cloud’s large model Qwen with Haleon’s years of accumulated internal knowledge base, we provide one-on-one services to consumers, offering nutritional and health advice that is more closely tailored to each consumer’s individual circumstances,” said Bing Liu, digital and tech head at Haleon Greater China.
