Alibaba leads Chinese Big Data push with new AI cloud offering
Tue 25 Aug 2015
Alibaba-owned cloud platform, Aliyun, has announced that it is launching “China’s first” big data platform, which will allow developers to better predict user behaviour.
The new system, named DT PAI, will study large volumes of data to create forecasts on industry trends, the company said today. The offering will run across Alibaba’s main algorithm framework and Open Data Processing Service which is capable of processing 100PB of data every six hours.
DT PAI will feature engineering functions, large-scale machine learning and deep learning.
Aliyun explained that users can operate DT PAI by connecting standardised modules and setting targeted parameters before application development, which renders traditional coding unnecessary.
“Our goal is to create a one-stop artificial intelligence development, publishing, and sharing platform through data, calculations, and data connections,” said Aliyun senior product manager Wei Xiao.
“In the past, the field of artificial intelligence was only open to a very small number of qualified developers and required the use of specialised tools. Such an approach was prone to error and redundancy,” he added.
Wei continued to suggest that developers with little experience with Big Data would now be able to create a data application quickly and simply using DT PAI – “What used to take days can be completed within minutes.”
The Chinese vendor said that findings generated across the platform would be applied to everyday retail experiences. It suggested for example that shoppers would be able to take a photo of an outfit and would be immediately directed to the product pages on Aliababa e-commerce site, Taobao Marketplace.
According to local reports, Alibaba is also developing Big Data systems to analyse financial information collected from Taobao and Alipay to decide which startups and small businesses to invest in. In addition, spokesperson Beckie Wang said the e-commerce giant is focusing heavily on Big Data solutions for improving its marketplace design, search offering, logistics and location-based services.
