Jack Ma-backed Ant Group set for high-stakes overhaul of billion-user app

Ant Group is testing an overhaul to its Alipay super app that would introduce an AI agent interface, a major escalation in its battle for users with archrival WeChat. Hangzhou-based Ant will roll out a design that lets users ask the Alipay AI to book a car ride, order coffee or arrange takeout — by typing or speaking their requests, according to people familiar with its plans and a video demo seen by Bloomberg News. The assistant, pronounced “Ah Bao” in Chinese, will also be able to conduct money-management tasks like buying mutual funds with user authorization, the people said, requesting not to be named because the information is private. The AI agent race sweeping China’s super-apps Ant’s impending update reflects a broader trend sweeping the AI arena. The convenience of artificial intelligence agents — tools that can conduct complex tasks on a user’s behalf — is now the prevailing focus for the industry, and platforms like Alipay and Tencent Holdings’s WeChat aim to deliver on that promise. The so-called super-apps are already plugged into every aspect of daily life in China, from paying utility bills to booking travel or entertainment, and the country’s population has shown eagerness for such services with its embrace of the OpenClaw framework for homemade AI agents. Alipay vs WeChat: Tencent tests its own AI assistant Tencent, like Ant, is testing a prototype AI agent within WeChat. With more than a billion users each, Alipay and WeChat will be closely watched and may serve as the template for how best to implement AI assistants in mobile software to automate daily digital tasks. And the company that better executes that job will have an advantage in a key contest in China’s internet arena. Tencent, the country’s most valuable company, has been on a furious release schedule, recently unveiling a slew of products capitalizing on the viral appeal of OpenClaw. The release schedule for the new version of Alipay, which is only being tested internally for now, has yet to be finalized, the people said. An Ant Group representative declined to comment. Why the AI skirmish is getting costly for China’s tech giants The revamp will escalate a costly skirmish that also encompasses ByteDance, with its dominant short-video platform Douyin, and Alibaba Group Holding, which owns one-third of Ant. Each of the top internet platforms is infusing AI across its services to keep consumers within its ecosystem, at a rising cost. Ant posted a 79% decrease in profit over the last three months of 2025 as it amped up spending on AI ventures in health care and large language model development. Tencent, Alibaba and ByteDance spent billions in cash incentives to market their flagship AI chatbots during the recent Chinese New Year holiday, and their introduction of AI agents will only increase the cost of operations as those services consume more computing power. Ant has gone all-in on AI since its initial public offering was derailed by Chinese regulators and the authorities put a cap on its lending abilities. Last year, it showcased its first humanoid robot, which can provide medical consultation and perform basic kitchen tasks. The company is developing a health-care app called AQ, which served 140 million users as of September. In 2023, an Ant share repurchase proposal valued the company at about $79 billion, well below the $280 billion valuation during its attempted IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong in late 2020. By Lulu Yilun Chen

Jack Ma-backed Ant Group set for high-stakes overhaul of billion-user app

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag

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Jack Ma-backed Ant Group set for high-stakes overhaul of billion-user app

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag