Ant Group has unveiled major upgrades to its AI-powered health app AQ, highlighting how artificial intelligence is increasingly supporting everyday healthcare needs at scale in China.
Ant Group has announced significant enhancements to its AI health app AQ, now renamed Ant A-Fu, marking a steady advancement in the use of artificial intelligence to support health management across China. The update comes as the company continues to expand its presence in the health sector, responding to rising demand for accessible, digital health services.
Launched in June 2025, AQ has grown rapidly to 15 million monthly active users, positioning it as China’s leading AI health management app. Designed as an AI health companion rather than a diagnostic tool, the platform currently responds to more than 5 million health-related questions each day, reflecting strong demand for instant, reliable health guidance outside of traditional clinical settings.
The upgraded version introduces three core capabilities: health Q&A, an AI health companion, and integrated health services. Together, these functions aim to support users with everyday health concerns, habit formation, and access to professional care when needed. The app’s new Chinese name, Ant A-Fu, reflects its focus on well-being and quality of life.
A central addition is the AI health companion, which allows users to track daily health data and build healthier routines over time. With user consent, AQ can integrate data from major smart device brands, including Apple, Huawei, vivo, Yuwell, and Omron, automatically syncing metrics such as activity levels, heart rate, and sleep. Users can also upload images, maintain long-term health records, and create profiles for family members, enabling a more holistic view of household health trends.
AQ’s health Q&A feature has also been upgraded to deliver more personalized responses. The app’s “AI Clinic” tool guides users through structured follow-up questions to better understand symptoms, while image recognition allows users to upload photos of skin conditions, medical reports, or medication packaging for clearer explanations. While AQ does not provide medical diagnoses, it is positioned to address routine health questions that do not yet require hospital visits.
For more complex healthcare needs, AQ connects users to a nationwide network of 300,000 doctors for online consultations, appointment bookings, medication purchases, and hospital bill payments using medical insurance e-certificates. The platform also hosts AI Doctor Agents developed in collaboration with more than 500 physicians, which have collectively handled over 27 million inquiries.
The service expansion comes amid China’s demographic shift toward an ageing population, with more than 400 million people expected to be over 60 by 2035. Against this backdrop, Ant Group’s latest AQ upgrades illustrate how AI can help ease pressure on healthcare systems by handling routine interactions, enabling doctors to focus on more complex cases and making quality health services more accessible at scale.
