Flipkart acquires AI startup Liv.ai to compete with rival Amazon's Alexa

The startup's technology will allow Flipkart to build voice-enabled shopping in multiple Indian languages

Indian e-commerce major Flipkart has augmented its capability to roll out voice-based shopping on its platform to compete with rival Amazon’s Alexa by acquiring Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence startup Liv.ai.

The startup, which set up shop in 2015, has built capabilities in speech recognition and translation in 10 different Indian languages. Flipkart says it will use Liv.ai’s voice technologies to reach out to the next 100-200 million non-English speaking shoppers in the country.

The acquisition is Flipkart’s first after US retail giant Walmart acquired a 77 per cent stake in the e-commerce firm for $16 billion. The deal is the largest transaction