Alibaba.com, a subsidiary of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has made a significant stride into the realm of artificial intelligence with the launch of its professional AI Search tool. Aimed at transforming the global procurement process, this innovative product is being heralded as the next Google in the B2B sector.
A New Era of B2B Procurement
On July 31, at a launch event in Paris, France, Alibaba.com officially announced the world’s first AI-driven B2B procurement search engine. The new tool is set to revolutionize how businesses engage in global trade by offering a more intuitive and efficient procurement experience.
不同于传统的搜索引擎, “This new AI search engine is not an enhancement of traditional passive search. It represents a completely new experience in global trade procurement,” said Zhang Kuo, Alibaba.com’s vice president, during the Paris launch.
The AI Edge
What sets Alibaba.com’s AI Search apart from other search engines is its focus on a niche area: deep information search involving industry-specific know-how. By leveraging its expertise in global e-commerce, Alibaba.com aims to make the procurement process more accessible and efficient for中小企业 (SMEs).
The AI Search tool is designed to understand natural language queries from procurement officers and translate them into professional procurement requests. It can also predict demands and provide recommendations based on global market data, ensuring more precise matches.
For SME owners involved in procurement, the AI Search tool acts as a virtual procurement assistant. It listens to their layman’s terms, translates them into professional jargon, and engages in step-by-step dialogue. The tool intelligently integrates information from across the web, transforming passive search into active understanding and prediction of user needs.
Redefining Information Presentation
The AI Search tool also redefines how information is presented to users. It actively compares information and recommends the most suitable suppliers, providing a comprehensive procurement service that completes the entire trade process.
In contrast to traditional search engines that merely match keywords with web pages, the AI Search tool truly understands product information and business needs, actively completing precise matches.
Bridging the Knowledge Gap
The AI Search tool addresses a significant challenge in the procurement process: the difficulty of finding specialized information in a vast and complex internet landscape. Traditional search engines often fail to provide the depth and relevance of information required in professional domains, making it akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.
By integrating large-scale model technologies that excel in command compliance, long-context summarization, and content generation, Alibaba.com’s AI Search tool offers a natural and intuitive knowledge emergence approach. It has learned from over a billion products and industry knowledge, covering the largest B2B trade domain knowledge base globally.
A Real-world Example
During the Paris launch, Alibaba.com showcased an example of a former professional tennis player, Simona, who was interested in starting a business in the emerging pickleball sport. Using the AI Search tool, Simona could easily convey her ideas and receive in-depth market analysis and recommendations for various business directions, such as pickleball paddles and training shoes.
The AI Search tool provided comprehensive data on market competitiveness, peak seasons, demand volume, and price ranges, enabling Simona to make informed decisions. It even recommended a supplier specializing in adding weight blocks to shoes, aligning with her idea of adjustable training modes.
A Game Changer for SMEs
The AI Search tool’s advantages are evident in its ability to significantly reduce the cost and effort of obtaining valuable information. SMEs can now access specialized knowledge and make informed decisions without the need for extensive industry experience.
Moreover, the AI Search tool will offer more than just information retrieval; it will provide complete intelligent procurement services, leveraging Alibaba.com’s 25 years of experience in the digital foreign trade sector.
Conclusion
Alibaba.com’s professional AI Search tool represents a groundbreaking development in the B2B procurement space. By combining deep industry knowledge with advanced AI capabilities, it promises to make global trade more accessible and efficient for businesses of all sizes. As the world watches, this new AI-driven search engine could very well become the next Google in the global trade domain.
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