Off the wire
• Trading on Hong Kong Stock Exchange  • Roundup: Jamaican economy improves, but can't afford higher public sector wages: minister  • Australian company exploits foreign workers: Australian authorities  • Foreign exchange rates in India  • Hong Kong stocks close down  • Taiwan stocks close up 0.31 pct  • Australian shares reverse track in trade  • 1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares close lower on Thursday  • China mulls measures to buoy foreign trade  • Feature: Sino-Oz FTA history-making for both countries, good growth expected in Australia  
You are here: 　 Home

Alibaba, Foxconn fund Softbank's robotics company

Xinhua, June 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group and Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group will invest in and become shareholders of SBRH, a robotics company under Japan's Softbank.

According to an agreement reached by the three parties on Thursday, Alibaba and Foxconn will each invest 14.5 billion Japanese yen (117.45 million U. S. dollars) in and hold a 20 percent stake in SBRH. The other 60 percent of shares will be held by Softbank.

According to Alibaba, the three companies agreed to jointly promote the Pepper robot in the global market. Pepper is a robot equipped with a microphone, camera, and 3D sensor on its head, which can help it identify and respond to people's facial expressions, voices and emotions.

The first batch of 1,000 Pepper robots will enter Japanese market on June 20.

Alibaba's founder Jack Ma said the robotics industry will help fuel scientific breakthroughs in areas such as medical treatment, public service, and intelligent homes.

Alibaba said it will also cooperate with SBRH to research robotics application and user experience. Endi