Jack Ma-Backed Ant Turns to AI Health as Next Growth Engine in $69 Bn Race

Ant has said it plans to reach most of China’s 1.4 billion people with its AI-powered health services within three years.

Jack Ma-backed Ant Group has shifted its long-term growth strategy toward artificial intelligence-driven healthcare, positioning the sector alongside payments and lending as it seeks to capitalise on China’s rapidly expanding $69 Bn digital health market.

It has repositioned healthcare as the centrepiece of its next phase of growth, marking a strategic pivot nearly five years after its blockbuster initial public offering was halted. The company has increasingly focused on AI-powered health services, aiming to use technology and scale to reshape how medical care is accessed in China.

“In our first decade, Ant focused on making payments easier. The second was about inclusive finance. Now, we hope helping people live healthier lives can be the driver for the next decade,” Zhang Junjie, head of Ant’s health unit, said.

Ant has said it plans to reach most of China’s 1.4 billion people with its AI-powered health services within three years.

China’s online healthcare market was valued at about $69 Bn in 2025. Around 400 million people were already using some form of digital healthcare service by 2024, driven by uneven access to doctors, rising healthcare costs and growing acceptance of online consultations.

Ant’s foothold in healthcare dates back more than a decade, when Alipay began processing hospital payments. Today, more than 800 million users have linked their basic medical insurance information to the app, allowing bills to be settled digitally.

At the core of Ant’s strategy are its AI Doctor Agents, digital avatars trained by physicians to handle routine inquiries. More than 1,000 doctors have contributed to training these agents, which can answer common questions, flag urgent cases and compile patient histories before in-person visits. Ant said the avatars handled more than 27 million inquiries last year.

Last year, Ant launched an AI-powered health app called AQ, which aggregates personal health data, answers general medical questions and connects users to consultations, pharmacies and insurance payments.

Rather than diagnosing illnesses, AQ routes patients to a network of more than 5,000 hospitals and 300,000 licensed physicians. The app has gained rapid traction, ranking as the most downloaded medical app on Apple iPhones in China since early December.

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