Alibaba releases its own AI chip to boost cloud computing

The AI race is gaining momentum and the latest to join the chip business is Alibaba which has unveiled its own AI chip called the Hanguang 80.

The AI chip is claimed to reduce the time needed for machine learning tasks, such as categorising product images on Alibaba's e-commerce site Taobao, which takes about an hour to just five minutes, Engadget reports.

Alibaba is already using the Hanguang 80 AI chip for parts of its business including product search, automatic translations, and personalised recommendations. The company plans to use it to further power its cloud computing business.