With the unstoppable market appetite for AI, Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, continues to pioneer technology innovation across a diverse range of industries from technology development, imaging, travel to beauty and healthcare.  

Leveraging a robust "Cloud + AI" development strategy, Alibaba Cloud has witnessed substantial growth in external client revenue. This includes double-digit increases in public cloud services and remarkable triple-digit growth in AI-related product revenue for the fifth consecutive quarter according to the latest September quarter earnings.

In 2024, organizations are reimagining their operations and customer engagement strategies using Alibaba Cloud’s cutting-edge cloud solutions. From the revamped AI infrastructure to proprietary Qwen LLM series and advanced AI analytics, these technologies and products have grown beyond just operational tools. They are the catalysts for a digital transformation, enhancing customer experiences and operational efficiencies across the Asian landscape.

Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said, “We are thrilled to witness our robust cloud infrastructure and AI offerings empowering organizations 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.”

Supporting Innovation in Japanese-language LLMs

In Japan, Lightblue, a University of Tokyo startup that develops AI solutions such as image analysis and natural language processing with the aim of AI democratization, has utilized Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen to support the development of its Japanese-language LLMs. 

By leveraging Alibaba Cloud’s advanced architecture and training capabilities, Lightblue has been able to enhance its offerings for East Asian languages, specifically Japanese. The company also employed other cloud solutions from Alibaba Cloud such as Elastic Compute Service, Server Load Balancer and Object Storage Service which provides efficient and secure cloud services. 

This collaboration highlights Alibaba Cloud's commitment to supporting technology startups in pursuing their innovative goals.

"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 democratize technology in East Asia," said Shunichi Taniguchi, Director & Senior Researcher at Lightblue. 

Revolutionizing image capture with great flexibility

In Malaysia, Pictureworks, a leading provider of innovative photography imaging solutions, has harnessed Alibaba Cloud's extensive AI and cloud technologies to revolutionize the flexibility and quality of high-resolution image capture.

This collaboration has been successfully implemented at seven premier tourist attractions across Asia, with additional projects underway. Notably, by utilizing Alibaba Cloud’s robust and secure technologies, Pictureworks has produced over 150,000 photos at an award-winning theme park in Hong Kong.

Key solutions provided by Alibaba Cloud include its Platform for Artificial Intelligence (PAI), Function Compute, and Object Storage Services (OSS). PAI is designed to streamline the machine learning lifecycle, offering a fully managed service for deploying machine learning models, which enables Pictureworks to swiftly adjust AI models as needed within tight timelines.

Sharon Tse, CEO of Pictureworks, said, "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."

Transforming Travel Experience with Significant Cost Reduction

Singapore’s Atlas, an innovative B2B travel technology provider, has leveraged Alibaba Cloud’s infrastructure and AI advancements to cater to a wide array of global travel sellers and low-cost airlines. By utilizing Alibaba Cloud’s LLM Qwen and Model Studio platform, Atlas has implemented a digital chatbot that offers 24/7 customer support, efficiently addressing partner inquiries related to booking processes and payment options. 

Since partnering with Alibaba Cloud in 2021, Atlas has achieved a remarkable 45% reduction in operational costs. 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.

“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.

Enhancing Customer Interactions in Skincare

Drunk Elephant, a renowned skincare brand acquired by Shiseido in 2019, deployed 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 inquiries about product recommendations and skincare tips with nuanced and personalized responses. The collaboration aims to deliver a richer brand experience through innovative digital engagement opportunities.

To improve the accuracy and relevance of its responses, DRUNKGPT was further trained on the brand’s knowledge database and optimized using various Alibaba Cloud AI services, including Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT), Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), vector recall, and a multi-agent framework.

“Utilizing Alibaba Cloud’s advanced AI technologies allows us to create a more personalized and responsive experience for our customers,” said Andy Cai, Brand Director of Drunk Elephant China, “We are excited about the potential of DRUNKGPT to transform how consumers connect with our brand.”

AI Nutritionist with Personalized Tips 

Haleon China, a prominent consumer health company, is utilizing Alibaba Cloud’s Large Language Model (LLM) Qwen, along with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology to launch a specialized AI nutrition assistant solution called iNutrition for its Chinese consumers. This AI-powered expert accurately interprets consumer inquiries, delivering valuable nutritional guidance. It results from the integration of Qwen’s robust capabilities and Haleon's extensive internal nutritional knowledge base. 

“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 & Tech Head, Haleon Greater China.

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