Alibaba's next avatar: A tech powerhouse

New R&D unit to help transform e-commerce giant to serve 2 billion people in 20 years

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Monday it is setting up a dedicated research task force to spearhead innovative and potentially revolutionary new paths to growth, with the goal of transforming the e-commerce trading platform into a well-rounded and technology-driven powerhouse.

The group said that through a new and independent research and development department dubbed NASA, the internet juggernaut is setting its sights on developing core technologies that would serve 2 billion people in 20 years.