Microsoft, Qihoo 360 sign tie-up deal

Microsoft and China's leading Internet security company Qihoo 360 on Monday signed a cooperation deal covering mobile Internet and artificial intelligence, underscoring the multinational's determination to further tap the Chinese market.

The two will begin cooperation in mobile Internet products such as Microsoft's chatbots Xiaobing and Qihoo 360's mobile security service, before moving on to technology exchanges in artificial intelligence, according to Microsoft Search Technology Center Asia (STCA).

The tie-up is an effort to help Chinese mobile users enjoy better experiences of mobile Internet and artificial intelligence. It will contribute to the openness of China's mobile Internet, according to the STCA.

Microsoft unveiled a spate of deals with Chinese companies to promote Xiaobing, the artificially intelligent chatbots developed by STCA. But the product was removed from Tencent's WeChat, or Weixin, a popular instant messaging service in China, three days after its debut, over suspicions that Xiaobing violated WeChat's operation rules.