On the afternoon of September 10th, at the 2026 Inclusion Bund Conference, Ant Group took a significant step to accelerate the development of an intelligent service ecosystem. Alipay officially announced the launch of the "AI Agent Emergence Award," an initiative designed to foster innovation in everyday life services.
With an annual investment of 10 million yuan, the award aims to discover useful and engaging intelligent services, offering a top prize of 1 million yuan for the annual winner. Starting from September 10th, users can swipe right within Alipay and say "AI Agent Emergence Award" to "Abao" to learn about the event and register to participate. Even ordinary users can contribute by "making wishes" for the intelligent services they desire.
Once a developer's work makes it to the shortlist, they not only receive cash rewards but also gain access to integration with Abao for mature projects that are ready for the market. This integration would allow their services to reach Alipay's massive user base of 1 billion people, enabling sustainable business operations.
Han Xinyi, CEO of Ant Group, voiced his conviction that the explosion of AI agents outside of the traditional eight-hour workday is an unavoidable progression. Alipay expressed its hope that through the "AI Agent Emergence Award," it can cultivate a supply-and-demand cycle where "intelligent service supply" meets "fragmented life needs." This initiative aims to build a comprehensive AI agent ecosystem for the age of artificial intelligence, expanding beyond the existing mini-program ecosystem and paving the way for a new era of digital convenience.