Ant Group has unveiled the biggest overhaul of Alipay in two decades, transforming its ubiquitous mobile-payment app into a native AI platform with autonomous agents, as it strives to dominate China’s next-generation internet gateway.

A trial version of the flagship app now features an interactive assistant named “Ah Bao”, marking a strategic pivot from a traditional digital wallet into an AI-driven ecosystem.

Accessible via a right swipe on the homepage, the new interface allows users to access more than 10,000 everyday services – from ride-hailing to food delivery – through conversations with the Ah Bao bot.

The feature is currently available on an invite-only basis, with plans for a gradual roll-out to all users, according to Alipay.

To address potential security concerns inherent to autonomous artificial intelligence, Alipay said Ah Bao acts strictly as a process operator. All final payments and other financial actions were said to require explicit confirmation from users to prevent unauthorised transactions.

The upgrade weaponises Alipay’s base of 1 billion users, pitting the fintech giant directly against tech heavyweights such as Tencent Holdings and ByteDance in the country’s fast-expanding agentic AI market. The launch intensifies a high-stakes race among China’s big tech firms to embed generative AI into the country’s vast consumer ecosystem.