Hong Kong:

The fintech agency backed by Chinese language e-commerce big Alibaba has made a foray into merchandise powered by synthetic intelligence after saying a “life assistant” cell app.

Ant Group mentioned its Zhixiaobao app may help customers “order meals, hail taxis, e book tickets, and uncover native eating and leisure choices” in addition to entry providers within the digital cost app Alipay.

Unveiled in Shanghai on Thursday, comes as tech giants reminiscent of Google, Meta and Microsoft ramp up funding within the AI market, with many companies touting tighter integration of chatbots.

“Alipay is dedicated to harnessing AI’s potential to enhance the person expertise, guaranteeing that AI assistants like Zhixiaobao grow to be useful instruments in on a regular basis life for all,” Ant Group president Cyril Han mentioned in a information launch.

Since Ant’s preliminary public providing was scrapped by Chinese language authorities in 2020, the agency has been compelled to overtake its enterprise mannequin to fulfill monetary regulators.

Final 12 months, it was fined 7.1 billion yuan (US$984 million) for “unlawful” acts months after its billionaire founder Jack Ma relinquished management.

The Hangzhou-based firm noticed its earnings fall 10 % within the January-March quarter, Bloomberg Information reported, including that Ant’s valuation has fallen greater than 70 % because the aborted IPO.

Ant on Thursday described its new product as an “AI-native software powered by Ant Group’s BaiLing basis mannequin”, referring to the corporate’s massive language mannequin.

The Chinese language authorities gave the inexperienced gentle final 12 months for Ant to supply merchandise that used BaiLing. 

On the Shanghai occasion, the agency additionally introduced AI-powered merchandise for retailers, healthcare service customers and insurance coverage

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