BEIJING - Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of China's internet giant Alibaba, is sharing its AI-powered novel coronavirus disease diagnostic technology for free use by hospitals worldwide.

The technology, developed by Alibaba DAMO Academy and Alibaba Cloud, can analyze CT images within 20 seconds for diagnosing suspected novel coronavirus cases with an accuracy rate of 96 percent.

Doctors usually spend around 5 to 10 minutes diagnosing CT images of a patient. The AI diagnosis system can ease the already strained hospital resources, according to Alibaba DAMO Academy.

Medical institutions in Japan, Italy, Malaysia and the Netherlands have contacted with Alibaba Cloud hoping to use the technology, according to the company.

The technology has been used in over 260,000 clinical cases in 160 Chinese hospitals.