Google reportedly just invested more than $60 million in a Chinese artificial intelligence start-up

BEIJING (Reuters) - Google will take a minority stake in Beijing-based artificial intelligence firm Mobvoi as part of a $75 million fundraising round, the start-up said on Tuesday, as the U.S. search giant tries to rebuild its presence in China.

Mobvoi will maintain a controlling stake, it said in an e-mailed statement. The size of Google's investment was not disclosed, although TechCrunch's Jon Russell reports that Google likely paid more than $60 million.

"Mobvoi's Yufan Wang confirmed that Google has become a minority shareholder. The deal, she said, takes the company to $75 million in investment to date. Since Mobvoi previously raised $10 million Series B and $1.6 million Series A rounds, Google's investment is just shy of $65 million," Russell writes.

Google's parent company is now named Alphabet Inc.

The Chinese start-up works on artificial intelligence (AI) voice-controlled software, like that used in Google's Android products for mobile search. Mobvoi previously partnered with the U.S. firm to provide Chinese-language voice search for the latter's Android Wear smartwatch operating system.

(Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)