Photo: VCG

Alipay on Tuesday launched a major update to its AI agent, known as "Ah Bao" in Chinese, enabling its one billion users to find services more easily and complete daily tasks with the help of the AI agent interface. 

The update makes Alipay the world's first super app to evolve into an AI-native platform, according to a release the company sent to the Global Times. 

Users can access over 10,000 everyday services, from hailing rides to ordering food and booking home appliance repairs, through natural conversations after entering Alipay's AI agent interface with a simple swipe to the right on its homepage. 

For instance, when a driver says "My car is running low on battery—find me a charging station," "Ah Bao" can list nearby charging stations ranked by distance, showing real-time availability of fast and slow charging slots and pricing. After selecting a station, the driver can simply park and tap "Charge" — without switching between apps or pages. 

The Alipay AI agent version interface features a clean and minimalist design with two service modules at the top — "Ah Bao" and "Asset". The "Asset" page serves as an overview of the user's personal account.

The AI agent version can be accessed initially through invitation only, and will gradually be available to all users.

Liu Dingding, a veteran market watcher, told the Global Times that the launch of Alipay's AI-powered version, together with the previously introduced full-stack AI payment infrastructure, marks a milestone in the comprehensive transition of the mobile internet into the AI era.

Major domestic internet companies have been accelerating the deployment of AI applications.

In May, Alibaba announced the full integration of its large-language model app Qwen with its e-commerce platform Taobao, allowing users to complete the entire shopping journey through AI-powered interactions, as China's major internet platforms move faster to embed generative AI into core consumer scenarios.

The move marked what media reports described as the world's first deep integration between a mega-scale e-commerce platform and a leading large-language model app, creating a closed-loop AI shopping experience that spans product recommendation, order placement, fulfillment and after-sales services. 

Other Chinese tech firms are likewise accelerating the integration of large-language models into everyday applications. Tencent, for instance, has embedded its Hy3 preview model into several of its platforms, including the AI assistant Yuanbao, QQ Browser, and the digital reading service WeRead, according to recent media reports.

According to a recent Xinhua report, a major shift in China's AI app sector in 2026 is that companies are increasingly finding real-world scenarios for deployment and reshaping their commercial narratives around them. Heavy investment in computing power and talent has made commercialization more urgent for the industry players.

Global Times