An old adversary always seems nicer if they might be able to help you out. China may therefore be rescinding Ant Group’s maverick status. The proof is that Beijing has approved the public rollout of products powered by generative AI created by Ant, the fintech affiliate of ecommerce giant Alibaba.
Ant’s wilderness years began in 2020 when Alibaba founder Jack Ma publicly criticised officialdom. Ever-tightening US curbs on exports of advanced technology now threaten Beijing’s ambitions in artificial intelligence. It needs innovative local groups like Ant to lead the charge. That gives the business a chance to make a comeback.
Ant has developed applications powered by Bailing, its large language model. One chatbot answers questions for customers and another assists financial professionals. That is characteristic of the disruptive company that reinvented banking in China. Ant runs the country’s biggest mobile payment system and one of the top online insurance and wealth management platforms.