China's Jack Ma Sees 'Great Changes' From AI Era For Ant Group

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, sees major opportunities in artificial intelligence in the path ahead for the e-commerce giant’s fintech affiliate Ant Group.

Ma made a rare public appearance on Sunday, when he spoke at the 20th anniversary celebration for Alibaba’s fintech affiliate Ant Group, which he also co-founded.

China’s best-known tech entrepreneur has avoided the limelight in recent years after criticizing the country’s regulatory system in a notorious speech four years ago, which led to a drastic revamp of Ant and other tech sector companies.

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Yesterday, Ma welcomed the AI technological revolution, according to Chinese media outlet 36kr.

‘Great changes will exceed everyone’s imagination’

“Our generation is very lucky. We seized the opportunities of the Internet era,” said Ma, according to the report. “From today’s perspective, the great changes brought by the AI era in the next 20 years will exceed everyone’s imagination.”

He also said he was grateful for the experiences and challenges Ant had faced over the past few years. “It is these encouragements and criticisms that help Ant grow and mature,” he was quoted as saying.

In October 2020, Ma’s public criticism of Chinese regulators derailed a massive listing planned by Ant Group. That was followed by regulatory crackdowns on the Chinese tech sector, with Ma largely withdrawing from public life.

In May 2023, he took up a role as a visiting professor to give lectures at Tokyo College, an organization run by the University of Tokyo, which allowed him to do research on sustainable agriculture and food production.

Ant operates China’s ubiquitous mobile payment app Alipay and in mid-2020, before its IPO was pulled, it was valued by some investors at more than $300 billion. Alibaba holds a 33% stake in Ant.

The fintech firm has since undergone sweeping organisational changes to comply with financial regulations. And Ma was forced to give up control of Ant Group in 2023.

Ant Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In July last year, Chinese authorities announced a nearly $1 billion fine for Ant Group for violating laws concerning consumer protection and corporate governance, ending a years-long regulatory overhaul of the fintech company.

On Sunday, Ant Group said it would promote President Cyril Han to take over from Eric Jing as chief executive officer from March 1.