China – Starbucks and Alipay have launched an AI-powered service in China that allows consumers to schedule recurring coffee orders through Alipay’s Ah Bao AI agent.
The new “Coffee Alarm Clock” service was unveiled at a conference.. It allows users to give Ah Bao a voice instruction, such as requesting a Starbucks iced Americano at a set time each day, after which the agent can initiate the order at the scheduled time and prompt the user to confirm and complete payment.
Users can set up the Coffee Alarm Clock through the Alipay app by giving Ah Bao the required instruction, assigning a name to the reminder and enabling Alipay notifications. The scheduled task can subsequently be cancelled by the user.
Ah Bao can also ask follow-up questions when a request does not contain enough information to complete the task. According to Alipay, users remain responsible for confirming orders and authorising payments at key stages of the process.
The Coffee Alarm Clock is part of a wider expansion of Ah Bao’s recurring service capabilities. The AI agent can also be used for tasks such as scheduling rides, while a new “Service” module allows users to view and manage their active services from the main page.
Since its launch, Ah Bao has offered more than 10,000 AI-powered services across categories including hospitality, dining, travel and pet care. These include paying utility bills, booking pet services, locating electric vehicle charging stations and requesting self-driving car services.
Several retail brands, including McDonald’s, KFC, Mixue Bingcheng, Luckin Coffee and Haidilao, have also integrated their services with Ah Bao, allowing users to interact with their services through conversations with the AI agent.
Alipay said Ah Bao currently supports integration across smartphones, vehicles, AI glasses and other devices through its AHA protocol, which is designed to enable interoperability between AI agents and devices. The company said the platform is integrated with five major smartphone brands and 16 leading automakers.
The company is also seeking to expand the number of merchants, developers and software providers offering services through the platform.
Alipay said it will invest RMB 10 million annually in an Emerging AI Agent Award aimed at supporting the development of AI-powered consumer services.
The programme will also provide developers with tools such as Alipay’s Qmuse, which allows AI agents to be developed using natural-language instructions rather than conventional coding. Alipay said consumers with ideas for AI agents will also be eligible to participate in the programme.
