A new AI division has been established by the Chinese financial technology giant Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding. This division, led by a former Google engineer, showcases the company’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to fuel its expanding operations.
Individuals familiar with the matter, who preferred to remain anonymous while discussing internal developments, reveal that the newly formed unit, named NextEvo and helmed by Xu Peng, an executive vice president at Ant, will spearhead the core AI initiatives of the fintech powerhouse.
The initial report on this development was brought to light by the foreign online media outlet 36Kr. It is noteworthy that the South China Morning Post is under the ownership of Alibaba.
In line with the trend among major Chinese tech firms, Ant Group is also delving into significant investments in large language models (LLMs), the foundational technology behind ChatGPT and similar AI chatbots, in a bid to drive growth through advancements in the field of AI.
Sources indicate that NextEvo will oversee Ant’s proprietary LLM, Bailing, along with its AI infrastructure, natural language processing (NLP), and AI-driven data operations.
In the wake of the abrupt shelving of its dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2020, Ant Group has been navigating regulatory adjustments imposed by Beijing. The company, headquartered in Hangzhou, has taken proactive measures to realign its operations.
As per statements from central bank governor Pan Gongsheng, the People’s Bank of China and the Zhejiang provincial government are gearing up to grant Qiantang Credit Rating, an Ant-affiliated entity, a “personal payment data collection license,” a prerequisite for Ant to scale its credit business.
Although Ant had applied for this license as early as 2021, Chinese regulatory authorities have since imposed stringent compliance requirements, mandating the company’s credit services to adhere to conventional banking regulations, thereby curbing its expansion.
During a restructuring phase, the voting rights of founder Jack Ma in the company’s payment platform Alipay dwindled from over 53% to slightly above 6%. The recent confirmation by the Chinese central bank that Alipay no longer holds a monopoly further paves the way for Ant to reclaim its distinct identity.
Xu, the CEO of NextEvo, joined Ant in 2016 and has been at the helm of the company’s AI research endeavors based in Silicon Valley.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Xu spent over a decade at Google following his undergraduate studies in engineering at Tsinghua University and a specialized degree in NLP from Johns Hopkins University. During his tenure at Google, he undertook research roles focusing on machine language and advertising strategies.
Xu envisions Bailing as a tool to drive industry value creation and foster the development of innovative products across various service domains.
