Flipkart acquires AI based speech recognition platform Liv.ai

The start-up will help build voice and speech capabilities for getting more online shoppers who may prefer native language interactions on the web.

India's leading e-commerce company Flipkart announced on Tuesday the acquisition of Liv.ai, an artificial intelligence (AI) start-up to solve the language-barrier problem faced by customers across its platform. Though the company did not disclose the acquisition cost, a company source said the start-up had been bought for USD 40 million (Rs 279 crore).

Founded in 2015, Liv.ai speech API recognizes 9 major Indian Languages - English, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu. The platform also converts text to speech in real time to get human-like output using advanced deep learning technology.

"The acquisition is in line with our vision to build e-commerce for everyone and help provide a conversational shopping experience to our users," said Flipkart Chief Executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy. "Liv has achieved the feat with accuracy by leveraging proprietary technology architecture and deep learning algorithms. Liv will become our center of excellence for voice solutions," the statement added.

"The next wave of growth of Internet users will be from Tier-2 cities, with 70 percent of them vernacular language speakers. Given the complexities in typing on vernacular keyboards, voice will become a preferred interface for new shoppers," said Krishnamurthy.

The start-up will help build voice and speech capabilities for getting more online shoppers who may prefer native language interactions on the web. As the country's largest e-commerce player, the 11-year-old Flipkart group includes Myntra, Jabong, and PhonePe. It offers 80 million products in 80 categories.

(With inputs from IANS)