China’s broken healthcare system has created an unlikely winner: a chatbot that promises to be your personal medical assistant. Ant Afu, built by Alibaba’s fintech arm Ant Group, has attracted 30 million monthly users in just eight months.
The app uses artificial intelligence to answer health questions, book hospital appointments, analyze test results, and send medication reminders. More than half its users live in smaller cities where medical care is hardest to find.
How does it work?
Ant Afu connects directly to China’s medical infrastructure through Alipay, the country’s dominant payment app. Users can ask health questions, book consultations with real doctors, and get insurance reimbursements all in one place.
The chatbot can interpret medical reports and suggest when to seek professional care. It also acts as a health companion, reminding users to exercise or take medications. In January 2025, Ant bought Haodf, an online medical platform with over 300,000 registered doctors, expanding the app’s reach.
Ant’s billionaire founder Jack Ma personally named the chatbot Afu to make it sound friendly rather than clinical. “He really cares about whether or not Afu can be like an AI friend that offers emotional companionship,” CEO Han Xinyi told Chinese media.
Why does it matter?
China’s healthcare system forces patients to visit massive, overcrowded hospitals for everything from flu to cancer. Long waits, rushed consultations, and exhausted doctors have left millions seeking alternatives.
The country’s aging population makes this problem worse. Digital health tools offer relief by handling basic questions and connecting patients with appropriate care. Ant Afu ranked among China’s top ten most-downloaded iPhone apps by January 2025.
Ant has unique advantages over competitors. Alipay already handles payments and appointments for many hospitals. Millions access their national health insurance through the app. This integration gives Ant deeper access to China’s medical system than pure healthcare startups can achieve.
The context
Chinese tech giants including JD.com, ByteDance, and Baidu all offer medical consultation tools and AI doctor chatbots. But Ant’s regulatory relationships and hospital partnerships give it an edge, according to tech analyst Ivy Yang from Wavelet Strategy.
“For startups, the bureaucratic red tape and initial investment required to build the platform, be compliant with all healthcare data regulations, and deal with various government agencies seem like too big a hurdle,” Yang said.
American AI companies are also expanding into healthcare. OpenAI and Anthropic recently launched tools that analyze medical reports and fitness data. But they lack direct connections to the fragmented US insurance and provider system.
The rise of AI medical advice raises safety concerns worldwide. The Guardian found Google’s AI giving inaccurate health guidance. Researchers have also discovered bias in AI diagnostic tools. China’s largely unregulated approach to AI healthcare makes these risks more acute.
Ma wants to eventually launch Afu in Africa and Southeast Asia, where medical infrastructure gaps mirror China’s challenges.