Ant Group Co. (OTC: BABAF), backed by Jack Ma, is testing a sweeping redesign of its Alipay super app that would introduce an AI agent interface at its core.
The Hangzhou-based company is developing a design that allows users to ask the Alipay AI to book a car ride, order coffee, or arrange food delivery by typing or speaking requests.
The AI assistant, pronounced “Ah Bao” in Chinese, will also be capable of performing money-management tasks such as buying mutual funds with user authorization.
The overhaul represents a major escalation in Ant Group’s long-running battle for users against archrival Tencent Holdings Ltd. and its dominant WeChat platform.
Tencent is also testing a prototype AI agent within WeChat, setting the stage for a high-stakes competition between two platforms that each serve more than a billion users.
Both Alipay and WeChat are already embedded into virtually every aspect of daily life in China, from paying utility bills to booking travel, entertainment, and essential services.
The company that better executes the AI assistant experience will hold a significant competitive advantage in one of China’s most fiercely contested technology battlegrounds.
The release schedule for the new version of Alipay, which is currently only being tested internally, has not yet been finalized, according to people familiar with the plans.
An Ant Group representative declined to comment on the plans, which were described by people who requested anonymity because the information is private.
The revamp will intensify a costly rivalry that also includes ByteDance Ltd., with its dominant short-video platform Douyin, and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which owns one-third of Ant.
Ant posted a 79% decrease in profit over the last three months of 2025 as it ramped up spending on AI ventures in health care and large language model development.
Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance spent billions in cash incentives marketing their flagship AI chatbots during the recent Lunar New Year holiday, and expanding into AI agents will only drive operational costs higher.
Ant has leaned aggressively into AI since its initial public offering was derailed by Chinese regulators and authorities placed a cap on its lending capabilities.
Last year, the company showcased its first humanoid robot, capable of providing medical consultations and performing basic kitchen tasks, signaling the breadth of its AI ambitions.
Ant is also developing a health-care app called AQ, which had already served 140 million users as of September, underlining its push beyond financial services.
In 2023, an Ant share repurchase proposal valued the company at approximately $79 billion, a steep decline from the $280 billion valuation attached to its attempted IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong in late 2020.
