Ant Group spent RMB 23.45 billion ($3.2 billion) on research and development in 2024, marking the third consecutive year its R&D outlay exceeded 10% of revenue, the company said in its annual sustainability report on Monday. Ant’s three AI-driven services for health, finance, and daily life now have over 130 million users, 43% of whom are from smaller cities. Meanwhile, Alipay’s “Tap and Pay” feature, launched a year ago, has been adopted in more than 300 scenarios, serving over 100 million users and millions of merchants. Its cross-border payments platform, Alipay+, connects more than 1.7 billion consumer accounts and over 100 million merchants globally, according to the company. Ant also reported RMB 8.9 billion in charitable spending for 2024, with initiatives supporting women in underdeveloped regions through insurance and digital employment programs. The company added more than 6,000 employees last year and opened new R&D centers in cities including Changsha, Zhengzhou, and Chongqing. [Ant Group, in Chinese]
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