Ant Group Pushes the Limits: From Chinese Chips to Healthcare AI – A Shift Beyond Fintech

The company behind Alipay is emerging as a key player in China’s AI race, challenging Nvidia’s dominance and expanding into deep tech innovation.

Ant Group, the fintech arm of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, is rapidly transforming from a digital payments powerhouse into a rising force in the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape. Through a strategic blend of Chinese and American chips, ambitious AI models in healthcare, and a growing focus on deep tech, Ant is signaling a clear ambition: to evolve beyond fintech and become a technological leader in its own right.

AI Race in China: Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba and Ant Compete for the Crown

While the U.S.–China tech rivalry continues to dominate headlines, a fierce internal competition is unfolding within China itself. Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba, and Ant Group are investing billions into AI model development, computing infrastructure, and proprietary chip solutions.

• Baidu was an early mover with its Ernie platform, aiming to rival Google in large language models.
• Tencent integrates AI into existing services like WeChat, focusing on business and healthcare applications.
• Alibaba leads in cloud-based AI with its Qwen model and Alibaba Cloud.

In contrast, Ant Group, traditionally viewed as a fintech subsidiary of Alibaba, is undergoing a strategic transformation—from financial services to full-fledged participation in the AI revolution, particularly in areas like healthcare and edge computing.

Ant Group: No Longer Just Fintech

Recent developments suggest that Ant is positioning itself as an independent AI powerhouse. The launch of its BaiLing model, collaboration with Qwen and DeepSeek, and investment in diversified computing infrastructure are all signs of a deepening commitment to AI research and development.

With its massive user base, rich data ecosystem, and years of operational experience in digital finance, Ant has unique advantages that it now aims to leverage across new verticals such as healthcare, public services, and e-commerce. Critically, it is doing so while shifting away from dependence on Nvidia chips.

AI Efficiency Through Hybrid Chip Strategy

One of Ant’s boldest moves is its hybrid semiconductor strategy, combining American and Chinese chips to lower costs and improve performance. By doing so, the company reduces its reliance on Nvidia, whose most advanced GPUs are subject to U.S. export restrictions.

Ant’s AI models utilize Mixture of Experts (MoE) techniques—an approach that trains only parts of a model at a time, dramatically improving efficiency. In a recent company paper, Ant reported a 20% reduction in computing costs thanks to using lower-cost hardware.

According to Bloomberg, Ant is now using chips from Huawei, Alibaba, and AMD, while gradually scaling back its use of Nvidia GPUs.

AI for Healthcare: Tech in Service of the Public

Ant has made notable strides in applying AI beyond finance, particularly in the healthcare sector. The company recently announced major upgrades to its medical AI platform, which is already in use at seven major hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Ningbo.

The platform incorporates multiple models, including DeepSeek’s R1 and V3, Alibaba’s Qwen, and Ant’s own BaiLing. It can respond to medical queries, support patient consultations, and assist healthcare professionals—underscoring Ant’s ambition to create real-world, impact-driven AI.

Navigating Geopolitical Limits Through Innovation

Ant’s evolution is taking place in a complex geopolitical environment. U.S. export restrictions prevent Chinese firms from accessing the most advanced Nvidia chips. Yet companies like Ant are finding workarounds—leveraging local alternatives, diversified hardware, and algorithmic efficiency to continue innovating.

Ant’s strategy showcases how Chinese tech firms are responding to global constraints with agility, resourcefulness, and layered innovation.

Conclusion

Ant Group is in the midst of a sweeping transformation—one that could redefine its role in China’s tech ecosystem. With growing investments in AI, strategic hardware choices, and applications in high-impact industries like healthcare, Ant is staking its claim as a deep tech leader, not just a fintech giant.

If this trend continues, Ant could soon emerge as one of China’s most influential AI companies, standing shoulder to shoulder with Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba—not just as a user of AI, but as an originator of it.