Ant Group has reported a record research and development (R&D) investment of $5.17 billion (RMB 35.03 billion) in 2025, marking its fifth consecutive year of increased spending and underscoring the company's commitment to advancing artificial intelligence as a driver of innovation, accessibility and sustainable development.
According to the company's 2025 Sustainability Report, the investment supported advancements in foundational AI models, AI-powered financial services, and healthcare technologies, while also contributing to a 55.32 per cent year-on-year reduction in operational carbon emissions through AI-enabled green computing initiatives.
In a joint message included in the report, Ant Group Chairman Eric Jing and CEO Cyril Han highlighted the company's vision for responsible AI development.
"Making AI a driver for shared prosperity—this is our answer to the age of AI, and our shared commitment to the future," they stated.
One of Ant Group's most significant AI milestones has been the rapid growth of its AI-native healthcare platform, AQ. As of February 2026, the app surpassed 100 million users, reflecting increasing demand for AI-enabled healthcare services in China.
The platform has built a broad digital healthcare ecosystem, connecting users to more than 5,000 medical institutions and supporting the AI transformation of 301 healthcare facilities. To improve access to medical expertise, AQ has partnered with over 2,000 physicians to develop "AI Doctor Agents"—virtual healthcare assistants trained on the clinical knowledge of individual medical specialists.
These AI-powered agents provide users with guidance on everyday health concerns and served more than 6.9 million people during 2025, helping address healthcare accessibility challenges and bridge resource gaps across regions.
Ant Group is also accelerating the adoption of AI in financial services through its Alipay ecosystem. On June 16, 2026, the company introduced a major upgrade to Alipay's AI agent, known as "Ah Bao," enabling users to discover services and complete everyday tasks through an AI-powered conversational interface.
Earlier in May, Alipay launched a comprehensive AI payment infrastructure that includes AI Pay and AI Wallet for consumers, as well as AI-driven payment processing and Token Pay solutions for businesses.
At the core of the system is what Ant Group describes as China's first Agentic Commerce Trust Protocol, designed to support secure and trusted AI-to-AI transactions. The infrastructure combines intelligent payment technologies with security mechanisms intended to facilitate the growth of the emerging agentic economy.
By May 2026, Alipay AI Pay had processed more than 300 million transactions, making it one of the first AI-native payment infrastructures to achieve commercial scale.
The platform's AI payment capabilities are now being deployed across a wide range of applications, including retail services, AI-enabled smart glasses, intelligent vehicle cockpit systems, consumer AI applications, AI development platforms, and autonomous AI agents.
Beyond product innovation, Ant Group emphasised the role of AI in achieving sustainability goals. The company reported significant improvements in energy efficiency and carbon reduction through AI-powered green computing technologies, resulting in a more than 55 per cent reduction in operational carbon emissions compared to the previous year.
The latest figures highlight a broader trend among technology companies increasingly leveraging AI not only to drive business growth but also to improve resource efficiency and environmental performance.
With sustained investment in AI research, expanding healthcare applications, and the rapid adoption of AI-native payment infrastructure, Ant Group is positioning itself at the forefront of China's evolving AI ecosystem while pursuing its vision of inclusive and sustainable technological development.
