(Bloomberg) -- Ant Group Co. spent a record 21.2 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) on research last year as the fintech giant increased its investment in technology including artificial intelligence.  

The affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has been boosting its research and development investment over the past three years, according to its 2023 sustainability report released Thursday. 

Founded by Jack Ma, Ant has been developing technology including its large language model BaiLing, which won approval from the Chinese government last year to provide services to the public.

The fintech pioneer has been expanding its overseas operations to overcome slowing growth at home. It’s tied up with more than 30 e-wallet platforms and banking apps for cross-border payments in regions including Southeast Asia and Europe. 

Other Key Figures

• In digital payments, Ant and its affiliate MYbank have served more than 87 million small business clients as of 2023
• Ant Digital Technologies, its technology business unit, has served 13,000 enterprises
• To digitize operations, 4.27 million merchants are using tools like mini-programs on the Alipay platform; annual transaction volume of those surged by 68% from a year earlier
• Estimated annual profit fell about 24% last year, dented by a 7.1 billion yuan fine that signaled the end of China’s yearslong crackdown on the tech industry

--With assistance from Lulu Yilun Chen.

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