Alibaba taps AI to defend Chinese e-commerce crown

SHANGHAI -- Facing an increasingly cutthroat e-commerce market at home, China's Alibaba Group Holding is relying on artificial-intelligence-powered tools for both shoppers and merchants to regain ground.

Shoppers on Alibaba's Taobao e-commerce platform can ask an AI-based chatbot named Wenwen for product recommendations. Asked for the camera with the best value, Wenwen suggested a Sony product priced around the equivalent of $650, based on the user's needs.