A staff member sits next to smart speaker Tmall Genie during a demonstration to the media inside a room of Alibaba Group's futuristic FlyZoo hotel in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China January 22, 2019. PHOTO: REUTERS
The announcement comes as the e-commerce giant continues its push into new technologies and business sectors beyond online shopping.
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The money will be used to add more content to Tmall Genie, as well as develop proprietary technology, Alibaba said.
It launched the first model of Tmall Genie in 2017.
Like the Amazon Echo, which is not for sale in China, the smart speaker can interact with users via a voice interface to play music, give out weather information, and perform other functions.
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The company has released several models since then, including devices with displays. Its latest model, announced on Wednesday, costs $77.28 and comes with a 10-inch screen.
Alibaba competes with Xiaomi Corp and Baidu Inc in the smart speaker sector.
In 2019, Alibaba shipped 16.8 million smart speakers to consumers, while Baidu shipped 17.3 million, according to research firm Canalys.
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