​Xiaomi Partners With Naver In AI For IoT Devices

Naver's AI platform Clova will power Xiaomi's Internet of Things (IoT) devices going forward, the companies have announced.

The South Korean search giant and Chinese smartphone maker signed a strategic partnership agreement in AI businesses on Wednesday.

Naver's Clova and Xiaomi's own AI will be tied to mutually improve their technology, the companies added.

In November, Naver announced partnership with LG Electronics to put Clova into the latter's AI speaker ThinkQ Hub. It is also working with Qualcomm to use the US chip giant's SoCs for IoT devices.

Naver, South Korea's biggest search giant and parent company of Japan-based chat app firm Line, is pushing AI. It bought Xerox's Europe AI centre last year.

It is competing with Kakao, the country's largest chat app, in AI speakers. Kakao rolled out its Kakao Mini speaker last year.

Xiaomi, meanwhile, is planning to launch 80 of its IoT products in South Korea this year, including smartphones and robot vacuum cleaners.

The Chinese smartphone maker has aggressively looked abroad due to the maturing Chinese smartphone market. It pushed past Samsung to clinch the top spot in India for last year.

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