Alibaba has announced that it will launch an AI-powered search engine tailored for international merchants. Scheduled for September, this advanced search tool aims to streamline product sourcing by utilizing artificial intelligence to sift through Alibaba's extensive database of over 1 billion product listings and industry-specific documents and will be available to all small businesses, including those outside its current customer base. 

How it will work

According to Alibaba, this new AI chatbot is designed to transform how businesses discover suppliers, effectively reducing the time and effort previously required to browse countless websites manually. This means that unlike the typical search engines that rank and index websites based on keywords, this sourcing engine will use an advanced model to help businesses quickly locate products.

Highlighting how the new tool will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of B2B transactions, Kuo Zhang, President of Alibaba.com, explained that: “Traditional search engines evaluate web page importance through interlinking, credibility and ad spend. In this AI era, the B2B sourcing engine offers an intuitive and organic way to query, as well as rapidly and accurately match business buyers and business sellers based on their proven track record.”

Alibaba’s previous AI effort

With 50 million buyers and 200,000 suppliers, the company has adopted artificial intelligence in its business operations. Previously, the company launched its generative AI toolkit, "Aidge," designed to boost e-commerce operations. 

Aidge offers various functions such as enhancing product listings, automating marketing tasks, and improving customer service. Since its introduction in November last year, the toolkit has been adopted by approximately 500,000 merchants, with its APIs handling 50 million calls daily.