To learn more about the technology underlying this feat, TECHx secured an exclusive interview with Si Luo, Head of Natural Language Processing (NLP) at Alibaba DAMO Academy. Take a peek at the conversation.

This year’s 11.11, which generated RMB498.2 billion (US$74.1 billion) in GMV over an 11-day period, was made possible by Alibaba Cloud infrastructure upgrades. Right after midnight on November 11, for example, just 26 seconds after shopping began, peak orders hit 583,000 per second – 1,400 times peak volume at the festival.

To provide a reliable and efficient delivery experience for the Festival, AliExpress is working closely with Alibaba Group’s logistics arm Cainiao Smart Logistics Network and last-mile logistics partners to significantly shorten cross-border delivery times. During COVID-19, AliExpress Direct delivered packages within 18 working days for orders shipped to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.