Alibaba just set up its first joint research center outside China to explore artificial intelligence

Chinese tech giant Alibaba on Wednesday said it set up a joint research institute in Singapore, together with a local university. The research institute will focus on developing artificial intelligence applications in a variety of areas including health care, smart homes and urban transportation. Alibaba said that the institute, launched with Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU), was the firm's first joint research center outside China. It will be housed on the university's campus. Initially, the center would start with 50 researchers from Alibaba as well as the university.