Fintech
Ant Group, Alibaba’s Fintech Affiliate, Boosts Global AI Efforts with Multi-Billion Investment – Alibaba Gr Hldgs (NYSE:BABA)
Alibaba Holding Group Ltd BABA affiliate Ant Group Co has 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 invested heavily in research and development over the past three years.
Ant has developed technologies, including its large-scale language model BaiLing, which won Chinese government approval in 2023 to publicly demonstrate products based on its large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) language model “Bailing”, Bloomberg relationships.
The model has powered several AI assistants on its Alipay platform, including an “intelligent healthcare manager” and an “intelligent financial manager,” Reuters reports.
The fintech pioneer has expanded its operations overseas to counter the economic slowdown at home.
Ma’s ambitious fintech company had fought intense national regulatory scrutiny, including the cancellation of its initial public offering at last moment in 2020.
Ant has partnered with more than 30 e-wallet platforms and banking apps for cross-border payments in regions including Southeast Asia and Europe.
It’s worth noting recent reports have indicated that beat Alibaba’s open source AI models Meta Platform Inc META Llama 3 in specific tasks.
Alibaba has expanded its global cloud computing availability in Mexico and is evaluating key markets, including Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea, over the next three years.
Alibaba shares have lost 11% over the past 12 months due to internal rivalry and a weak economy. Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF AVEM e Global X Artificial Intelligence and Technology ETF AIQ.
Price action: At last check on Thursday, BABA shares were trading 1.58% lower at $76.81 pre-market.
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