Ant Group’s Profits Plunge 79% Amid Rising AI and Healthcare Expenses, Backed by Jack Ma

Ant Group’s quarterly earnings continued to decrease as the company ramped up investments in artificial intelligence technology across its healthcare, large language model, and payment services sectors.

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

For the three months ending in March, Alibaba experienced a 3% increase in revenue. Ant, whose financial results trail Alibaba’s by one quarter, did not respond to an emailed inquiry. In the prior quarter, Ant’s profit plummeted by 91%.

Ant, which operates China’s widely-used financial services app Alipay, is investing in AI to explore new revenue opportunities following a regulatory crackdown that concluded around two years ago. The company has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars towards digital healthcare and robotics, while its global wing expands into cash management.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Francis Chan, the company’s online lending business is likely to have seen moderate growth after Chinese regulators limited its lending capabilities.

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

The firm’s Singapore-based international division generated $3 billion in revenue for 2024, setting the stage for a possible initial public offering of this unit. Revenue at this division reportedly grew about 25% in 2025, according to insiders.

Last year, Ant unveiled its first humanoid robot capable of providing medical consultations and performing basic kitchen tasks. The company is also enhancing its healthcare app AQ, which had 140 million users as of September.

In 2023, a share repurchase proposal valued Ant at approximately $79 billion, significantly lower than the $280 billion valuation during its attempted IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong in late 2020.

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