HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Tencent Holdings and Guangzhou Automobile Group Company Ltd have agreed to collaborate on internet-connected cars - a strategic pact that sent shares in Guangzhou Auto surging. The development of self-driving cars and fast-changing technology have set in motion a flurry of alliances between internet giants and automakers. Earlier this year, Tencent bought 5 percent of U.S. electric car maker Tesla Inc for $1.78 billion. Tencent and Guangzhou Auto will work together to develop internet-connected cars and artificial intelligence-aided driving, as well as explore investment in areas such as auto-related e-commerce, so-called new energy cars and auto insurance, the automaker said in a filing late on Monday. Guangzhou Auto said it aimed to tap Tencent's expertise in mobile payments, social networking, big data and artificial intelligence.

Last year, Chinese tech firm Alibaba paired with the country's largest automaker to connect their cars to the internet. Now, in an attempt to keep up with emerging technology, the companies will soon be implementing self-driving features into their vehicles. The car company's CEO Wang Jian told Reuters on Wednesday the new internet technology will allow the joint venture to quickly adapt its cars to become self-driving. Chinese auto maker SAIC Motor Corp Ltd joined forces with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to invest 1 billion yuan ($160 million/£123 million) in a fund to develop internet-connected cars. Chinese auto maker SAIC Motor joined forces with e-commerce giant Alibaba last year.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered bots will become the next interface, shaping our interactions with the applications and devices we rely on and Microsoft's latest solutions are set to change the way HP interacts with its customers and partners, Indian-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said. "Bots are now learning in human context and the relevant thing for us is to make them intelligent as we learn from customers' experience. Our solutions are going to give HP a 360-degree view of its customer services," Nadella announced at HP's Global Partner Conference (GPC) 2016 at the Boston Conference and Exhibition Centre (BCEC) here. HP announced a six-year agreement to deploy Microsoft Dynamics customer relation management (CRM) online in order to enhance collaboration across marketing, sales and service operations. With Dynamics, as well as Azure, Office 365 and other Microsoft Cloud solutions, HP has invested in the sales and service collaboration platform to deliver a seamless sales experience for customers and partners.

Alibaba has been working on an internet-connected car for the past year, and just unveiled the project's first model. The internet giant on Wednesday showed off its new SUV, the Roewe RX5, that it built along with state-owned automotive manufacturer SAIC (formerly the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation). SEE ALSO: Use your smartphone to park your car with Bosch's new automated system The new car, which is set to deliver in August and is already up for pre-order, will run a smart dashboard based on Alibaba's YunOS software that already powers phones and tablets from other makers along with a host of other appliances like refrigerators and air conditioners. Alibaba explains in a demo video that, like a personal mobile phone, each car is a unique device in an individual's array of gadgets. For instance, the car can pay for gas without the driver getting out and going through a payment app on the phone or taking out a physical credit card. Theoretically, a web-connected car can send a signal to the air conditioning unit back home when you're nearly there to switch on before you arrive.