Ant International, a global digital payment and financial technology provider, has officially launched AI SHIELD, a toolkit designed to protect AI systems from threats and vulnerabilities, ensuring security and compliance for AI-powered financial services.
AI SHIELD is integral to Ant International’s AI strategy, which prioritizes security, domain excellence in FinAI, and the expansion of AI services through an AI-as-a-Service platform. Artificial intelligence is integrated across every stage of payment processing within the company, supporting over US$1 trillion of global transactions in 2024.
The core of AI SHIELD is the AI Security Docker, which addresses inherent unreliability in AI services, including issues related to bias, security vulnerabilities, and ethical concerns. Reports indicate a significant financial impact, with AI-caused incidents potentially costing US$57 billion annually, according to the European Journal of Futures Research. Despite up to 90% of organizations actively implementing Large Language Model (LLM) tools, only 5% express high confidence in their AI security preparedness, based on a 2024 report by Lakera.ai.
AI Security Docker aims to ensure that AI, used in critical functions like fraud detection, payment authorization, and chatbots, operates safely, reliably, and in compliance with regulations. It offers end-to-end protection for AI models and agents from development through deployment, reducing AI service risks. This protection includes mitigating risks like over-delegation, which can undermine the reliability of agents in facilitating payments. Ant International states that its AI Security Docker can reduce AI service risks by 90% through three key processes: Agent Trustworthiness Authentication, AI Service Safeguard, and Dynamic Patrolling & AI Red Teaming.
Ant International and its partners serve over 100 million merchants and 1.8 billion user accounts worldwide, providing services such as the global wallet gateway Alipay+, merchant payment services Antom, embedded finance and credit tech services Bettr, and global account services WorldFirst. AI-powered risk-management solutions, secured by AI SHIELD, offer full-lifecycle protection for transactions against deepfake attacks, frauds, and scams. For example, the account protection solution Alipay+ EasySafePay 360, launched in September 2025, is projected to reduce account takeover incidents for digital wallet payments by 90%.
Ant International has also extended its trusted AI capabilities through cross-sector collaborations, including the Digital Wallet Guardian Partnership with AlipayHK and TNG eWallet, aimed at strengthening global wallet payment protection. Additionally, the company is a launch partner for the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) alongside Google, an open rulebook defining how AI agents can reliably transact with user authorization. The Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit, launched in June 2025, represents another critical AI offering, enabling fintechs and superapp operators to build custom AI agents and AI-native services.
Tianyi Zhang, General Manager of Risk Management and Cybersecurity at Ant International, stated, “Trusted AI could be a defining factor in unlocking the full potential of artificial intelligence in financial services. At Ant International, we are committed to working with industry partners to evolve the most advanced risk management framework for AI, while harnessing AI itself to strengthen our risk management capabilities. We believe a two-pronged approach is essential for driving responsible growth of FinAI.”
