 |
| (From L) Jack Ma, or Ma Yun, Chairman of the Board of Alibaba Group, Softbank's president Masayoshi Son, and Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Foxconn, pose for photo with a humanoid robot "Pepper" during the Softbank's press conference in Chiba, near Tokyo, Japan, June 18, 2015. Softbank announced that it will start to sell the emotional robot to the public on June 20 with the price of 198,000 yen (about 1,610 U.S. dollars). (Xinhua/Stringer) |
HANGZHOU, June 18 -- 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.
Students take graduation photos in ancient costumes
Forbidden City collects evidence from nude photo shoot
Chinese students learn Duanwu customs in Hefei, Anhui
Abandoned village swallowed by nature
Graduation: the time to show beauty in strength
School life of students in a military college
Top 16 Chinese cities with the best air quality in 2014
Mysterious “sky road” in Mount Dawagengzha
Students with Weifang Medical University take graduation photos
Ozone poses new threat
Pan-democrats mustn’t veto HK’s future
Grain scandal illustrates problems with price supports
Chinese police advised to revamp training in face of grave terror threatsDay|Week
