Alibaba's new AI agent to ‘revolutionise' how merchants source goods online
The Accio Agent unveiled by Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group (AIDC) was designed to 'revolutionise international commerce' by automating 70 per cent of the traditional time-consuming work, including product ideation, prototyping, compliance checks and supplier sourcing, the company said in a statement.
The AI agent marks a step forward in the process of 'agentic purchase', which is the use of AI agents to handle everything from product discovery to fulfilment. It could fundamentally change existing models of online search, advertising and e-commerce as tech giants such as Amazon.com roll out their own agents.
Alibaba said the agent could reduce weeks of market research and product sourcing work to just a few minutes. This would cut costs and speed up tasks for merchants, some of whom are small and medium-sized businesses run by solo entrepreneurs, enabling them to streamline their operations.
Accio Agent was trained on a huge quantity of data. Photo: Handout
'[Accio Agent] is designed to help you do business,' Zhang Kuo, vice-president at AIDC, said, adding that it could handle multiple tasks simultaneously and operate like a team of professionals such as sourcing specialists, developers and engineers, and market researchers.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
AI-driven data centre boom could drain Asia's rivers without due care
A regional workshop in Malaysia on energy transition brought together governments, international organisations, industry leaders and academics in June. Around the table, there was a consensus that Southeast Asia must find sustainable and alternative energy solutions to meet fast-rising demand. One key driver of this rising demand is the rapid growth of data centres. Across Asia, data centre capacity is expected to nearly double in the next five years, reaching around 25,000 megawatts. Over the same period, annual co-location rent could reach US$44 billion. Massive construction is already under way in major hubs, with more than 72 per cent concentrated in Japan, mainland China, Australia, India and Malaysia. Several forces are driving this surge. Artificial intelligence (AI) workloads are multiplying. Cloud adoption is expanding as governments and businesses shift online. The digital economy is growing faster than infrastructure can keep up, and increasingly strict data sovereignty laws require companies to store sensitive information within national borders, prompting a wave of local facility development. The opportunities are real, including those in investment, jobs and technological capability. However, the Malaysia workshop revealed the sobering reality that developing massive data centre facilities will consume enormous amounts of electricity . The forum, however, focused solely on sustainable and alternative energy targets, overlooking another equally significant issue: the close relationship between energy and water use. This blind spot could have devastating consequences if left unaddressed. Cooling systems keep data centres from overheating, and they are very water-intensive. A one-megawatt facility can consume almost 26 million litres of water every year for cooling alone. Across Asia, the use of cooling water is projected to reach nearly 1 trillion litres this year and 1.7 trillion litres by 2030. The seawater cooling system at Exchange Square, which houses Hong Kong's financial marketplace and several consulates, in Central. Photo: Jonathan Wong
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Chinese start-up joins NetDragon-owned Cherrypicks to push AI solutions overseas
Beijing -based Zhongke WengAI, whose services are used by various Chinese ministries and state media outlets, will also jointly develop with Cherrypicks – owned by Hong Kong -listed NetDragon Websoft – enterprise AI solutions for industries such as finance and healthcare, the partners said in a statement on Friday. This collaboration 'exemplifies the convergence of China's AI 'go-global' strategy with Hong Kong's innovation strengths', said Simon Leung Lim-kin , vice-chairman at NetDragon. He also pointed out that the strategic partnership would help 'further cement Hong Kong's position as an international innovation hub '. Shares of NetDragon closed unchanged at HK$11.61 on Friday. NetDragon Websoft vice-chairman Simon Leung Lim-kin. Photo: Jonathan Wong The partnership reflects efforts by Chinese AI firms to expand the reach of their operations beyond the mainland, while bolstering Hong Kong's campaign to reposition itself as an international innovation and technology hub.
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
IPO allotment rule changes make market healthier as a whole
The initial public offering (IPO) game has never much favoured small retail investors. With red-hot IPOs, they usually only receive a small allotment, if at all. With less-popular IPOs, woe to those who manage to get all their subscribed lots as that pretty much signals a price fall at debut. New rules now in place mean allotment chances for retail investors will get even smaller, especially with popular IPOs. Market insiders and experts, however, argue that this is not necessarily a bad development. Bigger chunks for institutional investors will mean more stable prices, less volatility and higher liquidity for new stocks. From August 4, IPO candidates have had to allocate at least 40 per cent of the shares to institutional investors, including family offices. That is up from no guaranteed allocation previously. The rules reduce the IPO shares that retail investors can get from the so-called clawback mechanism to 35 per cent, down from 50 per cent previously in the event of a heavily oversubscribed offer. The IPO company may also not offer a clawback, in which case no more than 10 per cent is required to be allotted to retail investors. The new formula translates to a 50 per cent cap on IPOs for cornerstone investors, who face a six-month lock-up period. Institutional investors will enjoy more certainty in getting shares at a time when the IPO market in Hong Kong is hot again, having catapulted the city back to the global No 1 ranking. IPOs of 42 firms raised US$13.5 billion in the first half of this year. The full year could reach HK$250 billion (US$32 billion), according to KPMG. Many retail investors offload their hot shares at debut to make a quick buck. Institutional investors tend to hold shares longer and help with price discovery, as well as stabilising prices, but it also means fewer retail investors can partake in a debut rally.
