Global management consulting company Accenture has made a strategic minority investment in Shenzhen-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Malong Technologies, the former announced today via a press release.
Malong offers a range of AI-based solutions, such as ProductAI, which uses product recognition and auto-tagging technologies. Use cases include checking out items at retailers by taking a photo as opposed to scanning a barcode, detecting defects, and scanning bags at security.
The two firms have also inked an alliance agreement, in which Malong agreed to work with Accenture as its “preferred systems integrator and consulting partner”, giving Accenture a boost in China, especially within the enterprise AI sector.
Accenture had used Malong’s technology to identify instances of stroke based on brain scans and added that the rate of accuracy was on par with human physicians.
A report by China Daily citing Tsinghua University data on AI development said that the AI sector in China was valued at around US$3.5 billion last year and is poised to grow by 75% this year. It added that 60% of backers financing the global AI market from 2013 to Q1 2018 are from China.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad