Alipay, Ant Group’s payments app in China, launched its AI Open Platform on July 7 and opened invitation-only testing to enterprise developers.

The platform let merchants and institutions add AI capabilities to their services and connect them to Abao, Alipay’s AI assistant.

Alipay previously described this setup as a dual-track approach. Under it, merchants can convert services into MCP interfaces that AI systems can call, while unmodified mini-programs can still be used through AI screen-reading with user authorization.

Alipay said partners can also use Abao for cross-device connections across phones, in-car systems, AI glasses, Internet of Things devices, and large-model platforms. This would let partners connect once, distribute services across devices, and manage them in one place.

The company said the platform is meant to help partners provide AI services to Alipay’s 1 billion users.

🔗 Source: Yicai

Recent Alipay developments