Alibaba's DingTalk launches "D Plan" or ventures into the AI hardware field.

According to reports, Alibaba's (09988) intelligent office platform DingTalk has launched a secret project codenamed "D Plan", which may involve entering the AI hardware field. Recently, the term "D Plan" has been circulating internally at DingTalk and among supply chain personnel, speculated to be a product similar to the "Bean Phone". There are rumors that the project is "highly likely" closely related to the upcoming DingTalk AI 1.1 version release event on December 23, and is expected to be a key unveiling at the event. In response to the rumors of the "Bean Phone" and "D Plan", DingTalk officials stated: "We've heard of the 'Bean Phone', but we haven't heard of the 'D Plan'. The company indeed has a very high level of confidentiality requirement for some innovative projects." It is known that in August this year, at the tenth anniversary new product launch event, DingTalk introduced its first AI hardware product, DingTalk A1. This is a portable recording card with voice intelligent functions, which can work collaboratively with the DingTalk app to achieve functions such as voice transcription, real-time translation, and content analysis. The product is available in flagship and youth versions, with the flagship version priced at 799 yuan and the youth version priced at 499 yuan, and has been successively launched in September and October this year.