<div id="readability-page-1">ByteDance-owned Doubao remained mainland China’s top consumer artificial intelligence app in December, according to a report, as the country’s Big Tech companies continued to lead emerging start-ups in this market.\nDoubao, a ChatGPT-like app, had 155 million weekly active users in the second week of December, according to data released on Tuesday by business intelligence service provider QuestMobile. It said that number was nearly double the 81.56 million total recorded by DeepSeek’s eponymous chatbot, which stayed as the market’s No 2 player, in the same period.\nTencent Holdings’ Yuanbao AI assistant, Ant Group’s Ant A-Fu and Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen app were ranked No 3, 4 and 5, respectively, by QuestMobile in the second week of December.\nAnt Group is the fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post. Alibaba Cloud is the AI and cloud computing services unit of Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant Alibaba.\nMoonshot AI’s Kimi assistant and Zuoyebang’s Kuaidui app secured the No 7 and No 8 spots on QuestMobile’s latest ranking.\n\nThe domestic consumer AI app rankings underscored the advantage of Chinese Big Tech firms in having a large user base and a strong AI ecosystem.\nTencent, for example, operates the world’s largest video gaming business by revenue and multipurpose super app WeChat, marketed as Weixin on the mainland. ByteDance, whose valuation recently surged to US$500 billion on the private market, operates the Chinese video-sharing platform Douyin and its larger sibling TikTok across the rest of the world.\nIn the five months between July and November, Chinese Big Tech firms and innovative start-ups rolled out about 409 AI models and more than 200 AI apps, according to data compiled by QuestMobile.\nAnt Group’s healthcare app Ant A-Fu and LingGuang AI assistant, which enables anyone to build their own mini-apps, stood out as the fastest-growing AI apps out of the more than 200 launched in the second half of the year, the consultancy said.\nQuestMobile also said that growing AI adoption in China was fuelling more investments into this sector. It said the country recorded 186 AI-related deals, totalling 33.67 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion), between July and November this year, which was up 20 per cent from a year ago.\n</div>

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<p>ByteDance's Doubao app leads China's consumer AI market, with 155 million weekly users in December, surpassing DeepSeek's chatbot. Tencent, Ant Group, and Alibaba Cloud follow in rankings. Chinese Big Tech firms benefit from large user bases and strong AI ecosystems. Between July and November, 409 AI models and 200 AI apps were launched, with Ant Group's apps showing rapid growth. AI adoption in China is driving investments, with 186 deals worth 33.67 billion yuan recorded in the same period.</p>

南华早报

ANT GROUP

ByteDance

Alibaba

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Tencent Holdings Limited

Tencent

ByteDance, other major Chinese tech firms dominate local consumer AI market: report