AsianFin -- Chinese tech giants Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings are moving artificial intelligence deeper into clinical medicine, with AI models now helping manage critically ill and emergency patients rather than serving merely as support tools.

Alibaba’s research arm, DAMO Academy, in partnership with the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, recently unveiled a large language model (LLM) called iAorta, designed for chest pain emergencies. According to results published in Nature Medicine, iAorta allows doctors to identify acute aortic syndrome using routine, non-contrast CT scans in mere seconds. This innovation cuts diagnosis time to under two hours, a significant improvement over traditional methods.

Meanwhile, Tencent has rolled out its Qiyuan Critical Care Model, developed jointly with Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics. The AI system is described as the world’s first critical care LLM. It can compile a patient’s full medical profile in just five seconds, forecast disease trends using critical care reasoning, and offer treatment recommendations to frontline medical staff. The model has already begun deployment in several hospitals across China.

Until recently, medical AI in China had largely been confined to peripheral roles such as virtual health assistants or administrative tasks, including automating medical records to boost doctors’ efficiency. The new generation of AI tools, however, represents a shift toward active clinical decision-making.

As of May 2025, China had released nearly 300 medical LLMs, with more than half already in use in healthcare services, according to industry data. This marks a rapid acceleration in adoption, fueled by ongoing improvements in AI capabilities and increased trust from medical professionals.