Jack Ma-backed Ant’s profit grew 10% after AI, global expansion

[HONG KONG] Ant Group’s quarterly profit grew 10 per cent after the Chinese digital payments giant bolstered its artificial intelligence capacity via AI models, humanoid robots and health care.

The Hangzhou-based company contributed 2.7 billion yuan (S$496.3 million) of profit to Alibaba Group Holding, which owns a third of Ant. That translates to an estimated 8.3 billion yuan in profit for the three months ended Jun 30, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Alibaba’s earnings report.

The company’s reported earnings lag behind Alibaba’s by a quarter. Ant declined to comment.

Ant, the operator of China’s ubiquitous financial services app Alipay, has been investing in AI to find a second chapter following a regulatory crackdown that wrapped up about two years ago. An AI assistant it rolled out this month attracted a million users within days, while its global unit has been trying to increase market share in cash management.

The firm’s Singapore-based international arm brought in US$3 billion of revenue for 2024, paving the way for a potential initial public offering of the unit.

Sentiment around China’s technology sector has broadly improved after President Xi Jinping met in February with private entrepreneurs, including Ant co-founder Jack Ma.

The Chinese billionaire made a rare speech at Ant’s 20th anniversary celebrations in December, discussing the company’s future and opportunities brought by AI. Ma gave up control of Ant in 2023, and no longer holds any position at the company.

Ant recently showcased its first humanoid robot, which can provide medical consultation and perform basic kitchen tasks. It’s building out its health care app AQ, which has served 140 million users as of September.

In 2023, an Ant share repurchase proposal valued the company at about US$79 billion, well off the US$280 billion it was valued at during its attempted IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong in late 2020. BLOOMBERG