Alibaba's Fintech Affiliate Ant Group Boosts Global AI Efforts with Multi-Billion Dollar Investment

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA affiliate Ant Group Co spent $2.9 billion (21.2 billion yuan) on research in 2023 to advance its artificial intelligence ambitions.

The Jack Ma-backed fintech company has been spending heavily on research and development over the past three years.

Ant has been developing technology, including its large language model BaiLing, which won the Chinese government approval in 2023 to showcase products powered by its “Bailing” artificial intelligence (AI) large language model to the public, Bloomberg reports.

The model has been powering various AI assistants on its Alipay platform, including a “smart healthcare manager” and “smart financial manager,” Reuters reports.

The fintech pioneer has expanded its overseas operations to beat the domestic economic slowdown.

Ma’s ambitious fintech company had battled intense domestic regulatory scrutiny, including scrapping its initial public offering at the last moment in 2020.

Ant collaborated with over 30 e-wallet platforms and banking apps for cross-border payments in regions including Southeast Asia and Europe.

It’w worth noting that recent reports indicated that Alibaba’s open-source AI models beat Meta Platforms Inc’s META Llama 3 in specific tasks.

Alibaba has expanded its global cloud computing availability in Mexico and is weighing key markets, including Malaysia, Thailand, and South Korea, over the next three years.

Alibaba stock has lost 11% in the last 12 months as it roughed out domestic rivalry and a feeble economy. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF AVEM and Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF AIQ.

Price Action: BABA shares were trading lower by 1.58% at $76.81 premarket at the last check on Thursday.

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