RayNeo and Ant Group Forge Strategic Partnership to Advance AR Glasses Innovations in Payments and Beyond

SHENZHEN, China & HANGZHOU, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 14, 2025--

RayNeo and Ant Group today announced a strategic partnership to develop innovative digital payment solutions globally. Beginning with in-store payment scenarios, the augmented reality (AR) pioneer will collaborate with Ant Group to explore AR glasses solutions for a diverse range of applications, including everyday services and cross-border payments.

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Building on AR glasses payment technology that enables in-store transactions by scanning Alipay QR codes, RayNeo’s latest X3 Pro AR glasses are the first to support payments through the Alipay Tap! merchant terminal in China. This capability will also be introduced to RayNeo’s other product lines, including the RayNeo V3 and V3 Slim.

Launched by Ant Group in China in 2024, Alipay Tap! enables users to make payments simply by tapping their unlocked phone against a merchant terminal or an Alipay Tap! Tag—no need to open an app, scan a code, or navigate multiple screens. By April 2025, Alipay Tap! had already attracted over 100 million users. With AR glasses, payments via Alipay Tap! are further simplified, offering a hands-free experience.

How Payment via RayNeo AR Glasses Works:

Powered by the RayNeoOS 2.0 system, the X3 Pro is RayNeo’s latest AI-enabled AR device, launched in May 2025. It supports features such as AI translation, immersive navigation, and AI-powered recording, offering users a smarter, more convenient experience. The newly added payment capabilities are protected by Alipay’s multidimensional risk-control solution for AR glasses, ensuring that payments are processed only when verified by the authorized user.

The RayNeo X3 Pro will soon bring AR glasses payments to users and merchants worldwide through Alipay+, the unified wallet gateway service under Ant International.

Looking ahead, RayNeo and Ant Group will continue to explore AR glasses applications in everyday services such as unlocking the delivery locker and paying utility bills, with the aim of making AR glasses an integral part of daily life and a true personal assistant on the go.

About RayNeo

RayNeo is a leading brand in the AR space, dedicated to redefining augmented reality through groundbreaking technology and wearable innovation. Initially incubated within TCL, RayNeo develops AR glasses that seamlessly integrate into everyday life, delivering immersive and intuitive experiences. By combining cutting-edge design with advanced technologies, RayNeo empowers users to explore and interact with the digital world like never before. Committed to shaping the future of AR, RayNeo drives innovation through collaboration and a user-first approach. For more information about RayNeo and its innovative AR technology, visit www.rayneo.com.

About Ant Group

Ant Group is a global digital technology provider and the operator of Alipay, a leading internet services platform in China, connecting over one billion users to more than 10,000 types of consumer services from partners. Through innovative products and solutions powered by AI, blockchain and other technologies, Ant Group supports partners across industries to thrive through digital transformation in an ecosystem for inclusive and sustainable development. For more information, visit www.antgroup.com.

RayNeo teams up with Ant Group to launch in-store AR glasses payments in China.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)