China tech firms report AI usage spike during Spring Festival

China’s major tech firms, including Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent, reported significant activity during the Spring Festival marketing period, with some highlighting the performance of their AI services.

ByteDance, owner of TikTok, announced that its cloud unit Volcano Engine and AI app Doubao were featured during the Spring Festival Gala on CCTV, generating 1.9 billion interactions on the day.

Doubao processed 63.3 billion tokens per minute at its peak, according to ByteDance.

The company also integrated its Seedance 2.0 video generation model into the Gala’s programming, producing pre-recorded segments.

Alibaba distributed 3 billion yuan in vouchers for its new AI app Qwen, aimed at boosting consumer engagement.

The heightened competition around AI products during the holiday has prompted regulatory warnings against excessive rivalry, known locally as “neijuan.”

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

The holiday AI battle was a multi-billion yuan test of competing strategies

Individual campaigns drew attention, yet the combined outlay captured the scale of this “AI War.”
Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu set aside 4.5 billion yuan in promotions, or about $600 million 1. Alibaba offered 3 billion yuan, using its AI app Qwen to gauge whether giveaways could lift consumer engagement 2.
Tencent put 1 billion yuan into a cash-reward push that aimed to boost downloads. The playbook echoed its 2015 campaign, which helped WeChat (Tencent’s all-in-one messaging and payments app) take the lead in mobile payments 1.
ByteDance chose product placement over coupons, weaving its technology into the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, the country’s most-watched TV event. The goal was to present its AI’s creative output to a huge audience 3.

Beijing’s warning signals a new era for China’s tech competition

A regulatory warning against “neijuan” (excessive, self-defeating rivalry) suggests a policy shift.
Regulators called in leaders from firms such as Alibaba and ByteDance. They pressed companies to stop “cutthroat competition” that drains value while leaving innovation behind 4.
The message takes aim at a familiar China tech tactic, spending heavily to win market share. That approach has shaped sectors from e-commerce to food delivery 5.
The scrutiny could push firms to rely less on price cuts and invest in business models that can last. That shift looks hard while AI profits remain uncertain across major global players 2.