Alibaba Group rolls out high-tech hotel

An incubator for lodging industry technology enables company to showcase its AI prowess

HANGZHOU - Gliding silently through Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's futuristic "FlyZoo" hotel, black disc-shaped robots about a meter in height deliver food and drop off fresh towels.

The robots are part of a suite of high-tech tools that Alibaba says drastically cuts the hotel's cost of human labor and eliminates the need for guests to interact with other people.