Sogou Unveils its AI Vocational Avatar "Yanny" at China Online Literature+ Conference 2019

BEIJING, Aug. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sogou Inc. (NYSE: SOGO) ("Sogou" or "the Company"), an innovator in search and a leader in China's internet industry, today launched its proprietary AI Vocational Avatar "Yanny" at the China Online Literature+ Conference held on August 9-11, 2019 in Beijing (COL+ 2019). During the conference, Sogou also announced partnerships with Xinhua News Agency, Migu, and Zhangyue Technology to further expand the application of the Sogou Vocational Avatar technology into the multimedia and IP industries.

With a growing number of readers in China consuming and enjoying literature online, COL+ is now one of the most influential conferences in China's online entertainment and cultural industries. To mark the occasion, Sogou debuted its latest AI Vocational Avatar, called "Yanny," at COL+ 2019. Yanny combines leading technologies in speech synthesis, image detection and prediction capabilities to create an avatar with lifelike expressions and gestures. Yanny delivered the welcome address at COL+ 2019, showcasing Sogou's continued efforts to introduce industry-leading products and integrate technological innovation into traditional internet services.

Also at COL+ 2019, Sogou announced collaborations with Xinhua News Agency, China's national news agency, Migu, an online multimedia entertainment subsidiary of China Mobile, and Zhangyue Technology, the China-based developer of "iReader," an e-book reader. Together, Sogou, Xinhua News Agency and Migu will integrate Xin Xiaomeng, the AI News Anchor co-developed by Sogou and Xinhua in 2018, into Migu's upcoming activities that will celebrate the 70^th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Based on Sogou's advanced AI-enabled avatar technologies, Migu users will be able to enjoy an interactive experience with Xin Xiaomeng. Further, Sogou will also collaborate with Zhangyue Technology to build AI Avatars of two popular authors of online literature, marking a key milestone in the application of avatar technologies in China's IP industry. Users will be able to enjoy an improved experience with readings by the two authors' avatars of their respective novels available on Zhangyue's e-reader app.

"We were thrilled to introduce our own proprietary AI Vocational Avatar 'Yanny' at COL+ 2019," said Wang Yanfeng, General Manager of Sogou's Voice Interaction Technology Center. "Our new AI Vocational Avatar and the partnerships created to leverage this offering demonstrate our commitment to exploring wider applications of Sogou's leading AI technologies to further benefit our users and wider communities. We believe that Sogou's Vocational Avatar will enable more natural human-machine interactions and become a future technology trend. We will continue to focus on language-centric AI and to develop technological solutions that are valuable to our customers and various business partners."

"Yanny" and the other AI virtual characters add to Sogou's existing portfolio, which includes multiple AI News Anchors and the AI Virtual Judge, all of which have been developed over the last year in partnership with domestic and international organizations. In 2018, Sogou and Xinhua News Agency co-developed the world's first English and Chinese-speaking AI News Anchor, which has been in daily use on Xinhua's website since November 2018. In April 2019, Sogou announced a partnership with Abu Dhabi Media to jointly develop the first Arabic-speaking AI News Anchor and in June the company partnered with Xinhua and Russia's news agency ITAR-TASS to launch the world's first Russian-speaking News Anchor. Also in June of this year, Sogou launched the world's first AI Virtual Judge in partnership with the Beijing Internet Court. The AI Virtual Judge provides real-time online intelligent litigation services and helps users to navigate the Beijing Internet Court's online litigation platform, thus providing more convenient and efficient online litigation services for the public.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates, and projections, which involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, intense competition in the market for search and search-related services; our need to continually innovate and adapt in order to grow our business; our reliance on Tencent platforms for a significant portion of our user traffic; and uncertainty regarding the extent and reach of PRC governmental regulation of sponsored search. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Sogou's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2018 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28, 2019, and other documents Sogou files with or submits to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Sogou

Sogou Inc. (NYSE: SOGO) is an innovator in search and a leader in China's internet industry. With a mission to make it easy to communicate and get information, Sogou has grown to become the second-largest search engine by mobile queries and the fourth largest internet company by MAU in China. Sogou has a wide range of innovative products and services, including the Sogou Input Method, which is the largest Chinese language input software for both mobile and PC. Sogou is also at the forefront of AI development and has made significant breakthroughs in voice and image technologies, machine translation, and Q&A, which have been successfully integrated into our products and services.

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SOURCE Sogou Inc.