TLDR: Alibaba International has launched a suite of new AI agents, spearheaded by ‘Marco,’ to significantly enhance efficiency for global merchants in cross-border e-commerce. These agents automate over 60 tasks, from marketing and content creation to customs classification and customer service, demonstrating a massive surge in adoption with over 1 billion daily API invocations by Chinese merchants.
SINGAPORE – August 29, 2025 – Alibaba International today announced the launch of its advanced AI solution, ‘Alibaba International Marco,’ designed to dramatically boost efficiency for global merchants engaged in cross-border e-commerce. Developed by Alibaba International’s AI Business team in 2024, Marco aims to empower small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) by providing comprehensive assistance across various e-commerce operations.
Marco is engineered to handle over 60 specific tasks, encompassing critical areas such as marketing, marketplace compliance, and customer service. The AI solution supports more than 40 languages, offering capabilities like listing translation, content generation, and image creation, all while maintaining high performance at a lower operational cost compared to its major competitors.
The adoption of Alibaba International’s AI services, primarily driven by Marco, has seen an unprecedented surge. Daily API invocations by Chinese merchants within Alibaba International’s ecosystem surpassed 1 billion as of July 2025, marking a thousand-fold increase from approximately 1 million in 2023. This widespread acceptance is evident as all of Alibaba International’s e-commerce marketplaces have integrated the AI solution, making its capabilities accessible to merchants worldwide.
Key features contributing to this rapid adoption include Creative Image Generation, which produces multiple diverse visual variations from a single source image; AI-Generated Listings, capable of creating product listings directly from images; and Marketing Content Creation, which generates promotional text. A significant upgrade to Marco’s translation capabilities in late 2024 led to a 30% increase in user satisfaction in major European language areas. Currently, Marco generates nearly 40% of all search-optimized product descriptions across Alibaba International’s platforms, a figure projected to exceed 50% in the near future.
Kaifu Zhang, Vice President of Alibaba International and Head of its AI Business team, commented on the strategic shift: “The past year marks a significant shift in how we deploy AI to empower cross-border e-commerce, reflecting broader industry needs and trends. Our approach combines deep, scenario-specific data with continuous learning loops, leading to increasingly powerful problem-solving capabilities. We’re evolving beyond standalone generative models toward dedicated AI agents that can tackle a wider range of complex business challenges efficiently for merchants engaged in cross-border trade worldwide.”
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Beyond Marco, Alibaba International is expanding its ecosystem with new specialized AI tools. These include an Intelligent Refund Agent, which recommends optimal refund solutions by analyzing market insights from both consumers and merchants, resulting in a 15% reduction in costs. An HS Code Agent automates customs classification, boosting accuracy by 23%. Additionally, a Merchant Recruitment Agent identifies and pre-qualifies potential sellers, nearly doubling the success rate for email lead conversions. Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group remains committed to advancing global digital trade through AI-powered technology across its diverse platforms.
