Nestle and JD.com join hands to launch smart speaker in China

Global food and beverage giant Nestle launched its own artificial intelligence (AI) product with Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com, in a move to meet the demands of increasingly tech-savvy Chinese consumers.Nestle XiaoAI, an AI family nutrition assistant, is a smart speaker equipped with nutrition and health knowledge that can answer questions from users on custom recipes, music and nutrition.The AI nutrition assist was launched after China released a national nutrition plan for 2017-2030 in July, which encourages the spread of nutrition and science knowledge through personal electronics.The device is built into JD.com's DingDong smart speaker system, which was co-developed by JD.com and China's AI voice tech supplier Iflytek. A limited edition beta version of Nestle XiaoAI is now available on JD.com.Nestle's AI attempt is part of a global trend to go beyond traditional products with digital services offering convenience, entertainment and education for healthier living, according to Rashid Aleem Qureshi, Nestle Greater China chairman and CEO.He said Nestle would keep upgrading the device based on consumer demand and looked forward to cooperating with more partners in this field.