Jack Ma pushes AI drive in rare speech since Ant crackdown
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Mr Jack Ma, seen here in a 2019 file photo, made a rare appearance at Ant Group’s 20th anniversary event.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Hong Kong – Chinese billionaire Jack Ma rallied his troops during a speech at Ant Group’s 20th anniversary, making a rare appearance after a government crackdown forced the fintech giant to scrap what would have been the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO) four years ago.
The co-founder of Ant and affiliate Alibaba Group Holding showed up on Dec 8 to talk about the next 20 years of the fintech company and the opportunities brought on by artificial intelligence (AI), according to a speech transcript seen by Bloomberg.
“We were lucky to capture the opportunities of the internet 20 years ago,” Mr Ma said in the speech. “In the future 20 years, AI will bring changes far beyond the imagination, AI will bring on an even greater era.”
He acknowledged the challenges and tests that Ant faced, adding that the company has matured and benefited from criticism. Also on Dec 8, Ant said it will promote president Cyril Han to chief executive officer, effective in March 2025, to succeed Mr Eric Jing, who will remain as chairman.
The Chinese authorities abruptly halted Ant’s IPO in November 2020 and ordered a sweeping overhaul of its business model to comply with financial regulations. Over the past few years, Ant has reorganised its units and been counting on breakthroughs in tech and AI to revitalise profit growth dented by the regulatory crackdown.
Ant is expanding with AI-powered products in areas including dining, ride hailing, entertainment, healthcare and finance. Profit grew almost 193 per cent in the quarter ended June, reversing a year-long decline.
Ant is growing its global business through Ant International, which is strengthening its four key pillars of business operations in 2024 – Alipay+, Antom, WorldFirst and Embedded Finance. In March, it set up independent boards for its international, database and digital technologies units to pave the way for future spin-offs.
Mr Ma has made similar comments at Alibaba. He called on employees to “believe in the future” in an internal letter in September, and has visited its campus.
BLOOMBERG
