According to a June 15 report by IT Home, Ant Group’s official announced the launch of a public invitation trial for the AI version of Alipay, confirming the previously exposed “Bao Plan” in-app renovation. The AI version of Alipay is equipped with an AI assistant named “Abao”. Users can swipe right in the classic interface to switch into the conversational business-services interface. The official’s first batch of announcements provides 100 invitation codes, and states that users may obtain more invitation codes by interacting with the assistant.
Ant Group’s Alipay Official Releases Five Public Trial Details
According to Ant Group’s official announcement and confirmed reports from IT Home and LatePost:
UI switching method: Swipe right in the classic interface to enter the AI version; users can switch between the new and old versions themselves. After launch, the default remains the original Alipay
First batch of invitation codes: The official will provide 100 invitation codes in the first batch; interacting with Abao may help users obtain more invitation codes
Iteration frequency: LatePost reports that after launch, iterations are planned to occur twice per month
Service adaptation scale: The “conversation-as-a-service” feature has been adapted to ten thousand+ services (government affairs, transportation, and daily-life scenarios)
Open platform: Fully open the service entry points, and invite third-party merchants and developers to integrate
As of the time of the report, Ant Group’s official still “refuses to comment,” and the official launch time has not been confirmed.
Confirmed competitive landscape: AI assistant rollouts at the same time from WeChat, Qianwen, and Doubao
According to IT Home and related reports, the confirmed simultaneous deployments by major Chinese internet companies are as follows:
WeChat (Tencent): Developing an AI intelligent agent, planning to call directly for hundreds of thousands of mini programs within the WeChat ecosystem through natural-language instructions
Ali Qianwen: Has integrated dozens of Ali ecosystem agents such as maps, ride-hailing, and shopping; reaches more than one hundred million daily service-related conversations
ByteDance Doubao: Already connected with Douyin e-commerce; supports placing orders and completing payments directly within the Doubao app without jumping to another site
Confirmed business data for Ant’s AI payments
As of confirmed data in May 2026 (from Alipay’s official):
Number of AI payment completed transactions: 300 million
Number of AI payment users: over one hundred million (Alipay claims it is the “world’s first large-scale, commercial AI-native payment infrastructure”)
AI payment system launched in May this year: AI Pay (users delegate Agents to place orders in price-comparison within a specified limit), AI Receive (merchants integrate with the AI ecosystem so that Agents across the network can be traded), Token Pay, AI wallet
A research report from China Galaxy Securities points out that the commercialization of AI applications has broad room for development. The institution predicts that the global agent commercial market will grow from $5.7 billion in 2025 to about $28.0 billion in 2030 (CAGR 46%); the $28.0 billion figure for 2030 is an institution forecast, not confirmed data.
Common Questions
How does Abao AI assistant’s core usage differ from traditional Alipay?
According to Alipay’s official announcement, traditional Alipay is “people find services”—users need to click through multiple layers of menus to access different features. The AI version of Abao uses a “services find people” model—users directly express their intent through text or voice, and Abao automatically matches mini programs and presents the relevant business-operation interface; it has already been adapted to ten thousand+ services.
What security protection mechanisms does the AI version of Alipay have?
According to Alipay’s official confirmation, the Abao assistant “just runs errands and does not move money”; the final confirmation rights for payments and fund flows still belong to users. The “If you dare to pay, I dare to compensate” compensation mechanism remains unchanged, while blockchain evidence storage and compensation mechanisms are also introduced. The official also confirmed it will roll out the AMP protocol overseas, unifying the agent identity, authorization, payments, and settlement into the mobile payments ecosystem.
When is the official launch time for the AI version of Alipay?
As of IT Home’s June 15, 2026 report, the official launch time for the AI version of Alipay is “not yet determined,” and Ant Group’s official “refuses to comment.” LatePost confirmed that this is a public invitation trial, and after launch, iterations are planned to occur twice per month.
