By Tracy Qu


Alibaba is rolling out an artificial-intelligence-powered search tool for international e-commerce merchants, part of continuing efforts by the Chinese technology giant to drum up business beyond China.

Alibaba said Wednesday that it will debut a sourcing engine next month to help small and medium-size enterprises find products and suppliers more easily. The engine had been honed using information from more than a billion product listings and industry-specific knowledge, it said.

The search tool "tackles the inefficiencies of conventional search methodologies, which are often time-consuming, manually intensive, and involve laborious data categorization processes," the company said. The sourcing engine will offer "an intuitive and organic way to query," a representative said.

Alibaba's international commerce business has been its fastest-growing unit for five consecutive quarters, which comes as the company faces fierce competition and slower growth rates at home.

Alibaba's head of AI development at its international e-commerce unit told The Wall Street Journal earlier this month that the company's generative AI models and new teams focused on AI applications were beginning to support its international business, including by helping small sellers overcome language barriers and take on more complex tasks like negotiating refunds.


Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-31-24 0844ET