Ant Group Sees 79% Profit Drop Due to Surge in AI and Healthcare Costs, Supported by Jack Ma

Ant Group’s quarterly earnings have continued to decline as the company increased its investments in artificial intelligence technology across various sectors including healthcare, large language models, and payment services.

The fintech firm contributed 375 million yuan ($55 million) in profit to Alibaba Group Holding, which owns one-third of Ant. This represents an estimated profit of 1.13 billion yuan for the three months ending on December 31, reflecting a 79% decrease compared to the previous year, according to calculations by Bloomberg from Alibaba’s earnings report.

For the three months concluding in March, Alibaba reported a 3% rise in revenue. Ant, which releases its financial results a quarter later than Alibaba, did not respond to an emailed inquiry. In the preceding quarter, Ant’s profit had fallen by 91%.

Ant, which operates China’s popular financial services app Alipay, is directing investments towards AI in order to discover new revenue streams following a regulatory crackdown that took place nearly two years ago. The company has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to digital healthcare and robotics, while its global division is expanding into cash management.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Francis Chan, the company’s online lending business is expected to have experienced moderate growth after Chinese regulators imposed limits on its lending capabilities.

Ant’s consumer finance subsidiary, Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Co, in which it holds a 50% stake, is estimated to have a lending capacity of up to 620 billion yuan based on Bloomberg’s analysis.

The firm’s international unit based in Singapore generated $3 billion in revenue for 2024, setting the stage for a potential initial public offering of this segment. Revenue for this unit reportedly grew approximately 25% in 2025, according to sources.

Last year, Ant introduced its first humanoid robot capable of offering medical consultations and handling basic kitchen tasks. The company is also upgrading its healthcare app AQ, which had 140 million users as of September.

In 2023, a share repurchase proposal valued Ant at around $79 billion, a significant drop from its $280 billion valuation during its attempted IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong in late 2020.

© 2026 Bloomberg