User: Why is the Chinese company Alibaba called Alibaba?
Assistant: Alibaba is a Chinese word that means “foreign lands” or “seas far away”. It is a reference to the old Silk Road, which connected China to the rest of the world. Alibaba was founded in 1999 as a business-to-business marketplace, connecting buyers and sellers of a wide variety of products. The company has grown into a global e-commerce giant.