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The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 1
The State of Chinese
AI Applications 2025
A Tech Buzz China Report in Partnership with Unique Research
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The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 1
ABOUT TECH BUZZ CHINA
ABOUT UNIQUE RESEARCH
Tech Buzz China is the leading China-focused research and intelligence platform, trusted by global
investors, corporates, and founders to decode one of the world's most complex and dynamic technology
markets. Founded in 2018 in Silicon Valley, we began with deep coverage of China's internet sector and
have since expanded into AI, robotics, and electric vehicles, mirroring the country's pivot toward deep-
tech innovation.
We combine insider access to China's top founders, operators, and investors with cultural fluency,
strategic insight, and on-the-ground execution. Our work helps decision-makers access, understand,
and act on developments shaping China's tech landscape, and has been featured in the Financial Times,
The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Information, Nikkei Asia, MIT Technology
Review, Axios, CNBC, and TechCrunch.
Through immersive tech tours, the Tech Buzz China Newsletter, and TBC Intelligence—our bespoke
research arm—we deliver research, insights, and analysis that connect global audiences with China's
innovation ecosystem. We also publish in-depth reports, including State of Chinese AI Applications,
oering data-driven perspectives on the industries dening China's next wave of technology.
Unique Research is an authoritative third-party organization in the eld of articial intelligence. Guided
by the principles of open-source, neutrality, and reproducibility, we build comprehensive research
capabilities through data-driven insights and ecosystem integration.
We regularly publish global AI application rankings and in-depth reports, oering dynamic monitoring,
trend analysis, and localized research to provide key decision-making support for enterprises and
investors, helping them seize emerging market opportunities.
Through rankings and summits, we foster collaboration across industry, academia, and research to
strengthen the AI ecosystem. Looking ahead, as the world advances toward AGI, we will continue to
focus on AI commercialization and practical adoption, striving to become a key connector between
technology, business, and policy—and a thought leader shaping the future of the industry.
Unique Research is an authoritative third-party organization in the eld of articial intelligence. Guided
by the principles of open-source, neutrality, and reproducibility, we build comprehensive research
capabilities through data-driven insights and ecosystem integration.
We regularly publish global AI application rankings and in-depth reports, oering dynamic monitoring,
trend analysis, and localized research to provide key decision-making support for enterprises and
investors, helping them seize emerging market opportunities.
Through rankings and summits, we foster collaboration across industry, academia, and research to
strengthen the AI ecosystem. Looking ahead, as the world advances toward AGI, we will continue to
focus on AI commercialization and practical adoption, striving to become a key connector between
technology, business, and policy—and a thought leader shaping the future of the industry.
2 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
INTRODUCTION
A Note
In 2025, China's AI applications expanded with remarkable speed and range. Multimodal generation
became easier to use, and learning and workplace tools started working straight out of the box.
Meanwhile, major platforms quietly integrated AI into everyday touchpoints—search, photo galleries,
short video, and documents. The spotlight shifted from eye-catching demos to fundamentals: reliability,
latency, inference cost, and content governance. AI is now less of a spectacle and more of an operational
capability that must endure and scale.
Three themes stand out. First, user reach and revenue growth no longer rise together; real advantage
comes from embedding AI into the workflow itself, not from showcasing isolated features. Second,
the profit engine has moved to the middle layer: data governance, model routing, and automation
determine margins, retention, and reuse across products and devices. Third, categories are settling into
dierent rhythms. Creative tools still draw attention, but the pragmatic, "get-the-job-done" utilities are
proving more consistent in both usage and cash ow.
This report is co-published by Tech Buzz China and Unique Research, an independent AI research
organization committed to open-source principles, neutrality, and reproducibility. Unique Research
conducts data-driven studies, publishes AI application rankings and trend reports, and provides
ongoing monitoring and localized analysis to guide companies and investors. It also bridges industry
and academia through research partnerships and events.
This report offers a practical framework for comparing AI products and strategies. It provides a
consistent lens on how reach, retention, and monetization interact; a way to pinpoint the engineering
and distribution levers that drive margin; and guidance on what capabilities can be reused versus where
new investment is needed. The goal is to help teams build shared baselines for roadmaps, partnerships,
and resource planning in the next stage of AI product development.
As always, Tech Buzz China aims to deliver forward-looking, insightful advisory and analysis. Enjoy!
We define a Chinese AI application company by its operating base, registration, and primary team
location. Firms that moved their headquarters, such as HeyGen, are not counted as Chinese AI
companies, though they are marked in the Unique Research database as founded by ethnic Chinese.
Some, like Butterfly Effect (Manus), are included in the Profiles section due to their origins and
relevance, even if they are now classied as Singapore-based.
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 3
Despite China's heavy national investment in AI, its consumer-facing startups capture only a small share
of global recurring revenue. In Unique Research's ranking of the top 100 private AI companies by annual
recurring revenue (ARR), only four are Chinese—Glority ($173 million, No. 20), PLAUD ($125 million, No.
30), ByteDance ($116 million, No. 31), and Zuoyebang ($33 million, No. 92). Together, they generate $447
million in ARR, just 1.23% of the lists' $36.4 billion total, while U.S. companies account for $33.4 billion.
The gap underscores how limited China's consumer AI scale remains in global terms.
Hangzhou-based Glority, creator of the PictureThis plant-identication app, is the largest of the group.
Founded in 2009, it has built a suite of computer-vision tools used in education, healthcare, and
document processing—illustrating how Chinese AI success stories often blend consumer appeal with
enterprise utility.
Several structural factors help explain the imbalance. Most Chinese AI companies focus on
infrastructure, enterprise software, or public-sector projects that depend on custom contracts rather
than subscriptions. At the consumer layer, competitive pricing, limited willingness to pay, and a culture
of free services constrain recurring-revenue models. As a result, China produces fewer large-scale
consumer AI products with stable ARR compared with the United States.
1. CHINA'S CONSUMER AI
TRAILS IN GLOBAL ARR
Annual Recurring Revenue
(billion USD)
AI App ARR Gap: China vs US
(unlisted companies only)
China U.S.
$0.5Bn
$33.4Bn
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
4 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
Rank Company Country Employees ARR (USD mm) Rank Company Country Employees ARR (USD mm)
1OpenAI US 4000 17475 51 HUBX US 8 82
2Anthropic US 630 7268 52 HeyGen US 100 80
3Grammarly US 1439 755 53 Quizlet US 472 80
4Anysphere US 60 650 54 Miovision Canada 412 76
5Midjourney US 40 597 55 Codeway 72
6Mercor US 1000 500 56 PhotoRoom France 50 70
7AlphaSense US 1300 400 57 EvenUp US 316 69
8Dialpad US 400 326 58 Musixmatch Italy 400 68
9ThoughtSpot US 1500 318 59 SpotHopper US 417 66
10 cleo 285 60 Constructor.io US 619 65
11 Aisera US 292 257 61 AIBY US 330 64
12 Cognition US 49 215 62 Weka.IO US 361 63
13 Kore.ai US 982 206 63 Mistral AI France 276 60
14 Runway ML US 210 203 64 AI21 Labs Israel 278 58
15 ElevenLabs US 330 200 65 Fal — 57
16 6sense US 1719 200 66 Bright Machines US 280 51
17 Speak US 90 191 67 Abridge US 150 50
18 Glean US 567 185 68 Framer 50
19 FaceApp Belarus 50 174 69 You 50
20 Glority China 173 70 Gamma US 30 50
21 Perplexity US 271 169 71 Higgseld US 21 50
22 Hugging Face US 444 156 72 Lightmatter US 130 50
23 Replit US 65 150 73 Groq US 315 47
24 Bending Spoons Italy 504 148 74 gethookd Bulgaria 6 44
25 Lightricks Israel 535 142 75 MainFunc US 20 43
26 xAI US 1500 138 76 Praktika US 38 42
27 CHAI US 12 136 77 Speechify US 131 41
28 Suno US 185 134 78 VEED.IO 40
29 Placer.ai US 898 130 79 StackBlitz US 25 40
30 PLAUD China 200 125 80 Akool US 50 40
31 ByteDance China 116 81 Waabi Canada 189 39
32 Anyscale US 281 112 82 Lingokids US 212 37
33 Cohere Canada 250 112 83 Snorkel AI US 352 37
34 Harvey US 500 110 84 Helsing Germany 218 37
35 Lovable Sweden 45 106 85 DataDome France 200 36
36 Stability AI UK 197 104 86 SNOW South Korea 35
37 Shield AI US 754 103 87 TurboScribe 35
38 Otter AI US 102 88 Manychat US 426 35
39 Sierra US 168 100 89 Cal AI US 15 34
40 Synthesia UK 198 100 90 KoBold Metals US 171 34
41 Moveworks US 604 100 91 D-ID Israel 154 34
42 Thoughtful AI 100 100 92 Zuoyebang China 33
43 Clay US 299 100 93 Character.AI US 165 32
44 Writer US 1400 100 94 InVideo US 144 32
45 Magic US 339 98 95 ChatBox 32
46 AiDash US 402 95 96 Weights & Biases US 293 32
47 Buttery Eect Singapore 40 91 97 Robin AI UK 80 31
48 Crescendo Canada 81 91 98 Vortemol 30
49 Jasper US 79 90 99 Undetectable.ai 30
50 Xanadu Canada 204 83 100 Captions US 56 28
Scope: Global AI companies (not publicly listed and not acquired);
Ranking criterion: total annual recurring revenue (ARR) from the company's AI products.
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 5
2. CHINESE APPS
DOMINATE ON REACH
As of August 2025, the top 100 AI companies in our sample reached an estimated 4.78 billion monthly
active users across web and mobile. China accounts for roughly 46 % (about 2.2 billion MAUs), and six of
the ten largest by scale are China-based—Baidu, ByteDance, DeepSeek, Meitu, Zuoyebang, and Alibaba.
Baidu alone serves around 730 million monthly users, showing how features embedded in dominant
platforms—often offered for free—can accelerate adoption at unmatched speed. (Figures represent
platform-level MAUs and are not deduplicated across apps.)
This reach reflects the breadth of each company's product network. Baidu operates about 22 web
products and 5 apps; ByteDance 21 and 13; Meitu 7 and 10; Zuoyebang 4 and 9; and Alibaba 12 and 4. By
embedding new AI capabilities into frequently used services and pushing them through large portfolios,
these rms turn distribution scale into a core competitive asset.
Pricing strategy reinforces that advantage. Broad free or low-cost access builds ubiquity first and
monetization later, concentrating users on platforms that fold AI tools into daily habits: Baidu ~730
million, ByteDance ~372 million, DeepSeek ~205 million, Meitu ~195 million, and Zuoyebang ~184
million. The pattern underscores China's strength in user reach—even as monetization remains
constrained by pricing norms and platform design.
Rank Company Country Web
Products
App
Products
MAU
(in 10k
users)
Rank Company Country Web
Products
App
Products
MAU
(in 10k
users)
1OpenAI US 2 1 109336 19 Character.AI US 1 1 3085
2Baidu China 22 5 72988 20 Adobe 1 3 3054
3Google US 3 2 46134 21 PhotoRoom France 1 1 2759
4ByteDance China 21 13 37183 22 Facemoji 0 1 2661
5DeepSeek China 2 1 20532 23 Glority China 2 6 2583
6Meitu China 7 10 19546 24 Quizlet US 1 1 2509
7Zuoyebang China 4 9 18418 25 Anthropic US 1 1 2454
8Microsoft US 1 3 13109 26 FaceApp Belarus 0 1 2403
9Bending Spoons Italy 1 1 6909 27 Wondershare China 15 9 2377
10 Alibaba China 12 4 6157 28 Brainly 1 1 2333
11 Yuanfudao China 1 3 6131 29 小影科技
(Xiaoying Keji) China 1 2 2228
12 Perplexity US 1 1 5904 30 爱诗科技
(Aishi Keji) China 1 1 2175
13 SNOW South Korea 0 3 4905 31 360 China 7 3 2169
14 xAI US 1 1 4847 32 MiniMax China 6 6 2093
15 Tencent China 10 4 4498 33 Quillbot 1 1 1985
16 影笑科技
(Yingxiao Keji) China 0 3 4425 34 Codeway 0 4 1978
17 Grammarly US 1 1 3220 35 Kuaishou China 2 3 1770
18 HUBX US 2 7 3119 36 Moonshot AI China 3 1 1716
6 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
37 Suno US 1 1 1683 69 Quora 1 1 686
38 微芒科技
(Weimang Keji) 0 1 1576 70 DeepAI US 1 0 681
39 iFLYTEK China 6 2 1565 71 todoist 1 1 669
40 恒图科技
(Hengtu Keji) China 2 2 1306 72 Anysphere US 1 0 660
41 莫璃信息
(Moli Xinxi) China 0 1 1299 73 Chatbot AI -
Smart Search Bot 0 1 653
42 Pixelcut 1 1 1218 74 LibAI Lab China 3 1 628
43 海艺互娱
(Haiyi Huyu) China 2 1 1204 75 ChatBox 0 1 600
44 Perfect Corp China 1 2 1193 76 FlowGPT US 2 1 583
45 Buttery eect Singapore 3 2 1171 77 Bible Chat 0 1 576
46 阿特拉斯 (Atelasi) China 0 1 1086 78 CUSTOMUSE 1 1 574
47 Peachy 0 1 1036 79 Replit US 1 1 573
48 Vyro AI US 1 2 999 80 Genie US 0 1 571
49 Kunlun Wanwei China 6 3 967 81 Loom 1 0 561
50 QANDA 0 1 915 82 PicCollage 0 1 556
51 Polyverse China 0 2 897 83 AI Chatbot: AI
Chat Smith 4 0 1 534
52 Hugging Face US 1 0 883 84 Turo 1 0 523
53 CHAI US 1 1 879 85 Kahoot 0 1 523
54 Luzia Spain 0 1 837 86 InVideo US 1 1 506
55 ElevenLabs US 1 0 830 87 Lovable Sweden 1 0 499
56 Arvin 0 1 828 88 Prequel 0 1 494
57 Lightricks Israel 1 2 827 89 Meta Sota China 3 2 472
58 AIBY US 1 1 816 90 Umax 0 1 461
59 Face Dance 0 1 813 91 OpenArt US 1 1 456
60 Gamma US 1 0 811 92 Lingokids US 0 1 455
61 Photo Lab 0 1 808 93 Vortemol 1 1 436
62 Wangxu Tech China 8 2 750 94 Leonardo AI 1 0 434
63 TurboScribe 1 0 749 95 SpicyChat.AI 1 1 428
64 VEED.IO 1 0 720 96 Zhihu China 1 0 425
65 OldRoll 0 1 713 97 Speechify US 1 1 424
66 ZeroGPT 1 0 712 98 SnapEdit 1 1 421
67 Moises US 1 1 690 99 Otter AI US 1 1 418
68 Zhipu AI China 4 1 686 100 ZMO.ai China 2 1 417
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
China Share of Global AI MAU (Top 100 Companies, Aug 2025)
46%
China
46%
Rest of World
54%
54%
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 7
3. MOST CHINESE AI STARTUPS SERVE HOME
USERS, BUT REVENUE FLOWS OVERSEAS
Despite China's global tech presence, most of its AI startups still focus on the domestic market. Of 887
companies tracked by Unique Research, 672 serve primarily local users, while 215 operate across both
domestic and international markets. That tilt reflects structural advantages at home: a vast internet
population, a sophisticated mobile ecosystem, lighter compliance barriers for local rollout, and early
commercialization channels through government procurement, enterprise contracts, and partnerships
with major domestic platforms. These conditions make China a fertile ground for launching and testing
new products.
Revenue data, however, tell a dierent story. In the ranking of the 100 largest AI products worldwide by
annual recurring revenue (ARR), 23 came from Chinese developers—and 19 of those generate most of
their revenue overseas. Only four focus mainly on domestic users.
Taken together, company focus skews local while top-earning products lean global. The local market
continues to offer scale and institutional demand that make it attractive for initial deployment, but
international markets currently present more favorable conditions for recurring revenue, which is where
many of the most successful Chinese AI products are nding traction.
Rank Product Category
Product
ARR
(USD
mm)
Company Market Rank Product Category
Product
ARR
(USD
mm)
Company Market
1ChatGPT Chatbot 17830 OpenAI Foreign 9 Glean Productivity 226 Glean Foreign
2Claude Chatbot 7679 Anthropic Foreign 10 Speak Education 221 Speak Foreign
3Mercor Recruiting Tools 927 Mercor Foreign 11 ElevenLabs Text-to-Speech 200 ElevenLabs Foreign
4Grammarly Writing Software 830 Grammarly Foreign 12 Perplexity AI Search 189 Perplexity Foreign
5Midjourney Image
Generation 556 Midjourney Foreign 13 FaceApp Photo Editing 163 FaceApp Foreign
6Cursor Coding Assistant 501 Anysphere Foreign 14 Runwayml Video
Generation 152 Runway ML Foreign
7cleo Personal
Assistant 351 cleo Foreign 15 Replit Coding Assistant 150 Replit Foreign
8Dialpad Customer
Support 301 Dialpad Foreign 16 KLING AI Video
Generation 149 Kuaishou Go-Global
Chinese AI Startup Market Focus
Total Startups
Total Al startups tracked
Domestic Focus
Startups focusing on domestic users
International Operations
Startups operating internationally
215
672
887
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
8 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
17 PLAUD Summarization 144 PLAUD Go-Global 59 Undetectable.
ai Writing Software 38 Undetectable.
ai Foreign
18 Hugging
Face Model Training 140 Hugging
Face Foreign 60 TurboScribe Meeting
Assistant 36 TurboScribe Foreign
19 Chai Companionship 133 CHAI Foreign 61 Lingokids Education 35 Lingokids Foreign
20 Suno Music
Generation 126 Suno Foreign 62 Clay Marketing Tools 30 Clay Foreign
21 Grok Personal
Assistant 122 xAI Foreign 63 Character.AI Companionship 29 Character.AI Foreign
22 Sierra Customer
Support 121 Sierra Foreign 64 InVideo Video Editing 29 InVideo Foreign
23 Facetune Portrait/Avatar 117 Lightricks Foreign 65 ChatBox Chatbot 28 ChatBox Foreign
24
Meitu
(Meitu
Xiuxiu)
Photo Editing 110 Meitu Domestic 66 Captions Video
Generation 27 Captions Foreign
25 Cohere Model Training 108 Cohere Foreign 67 Translate Now Translation 27 Translate Now Foreign
26 Harvey Legal Assistant 106 Harvey Foreign 68 BeautyPlus Photo Editing 26 Meitu Go-Global
27 Otter AI Meeting
Assistant 104 Otter AI Foreign 69 OpusClip Video Editing 26 OpusClip Go-Global
28 Synthesia Video
Generation 100 Synthesia Foreign 70 Learna Education 26 Codeway Foreign
29 lovable Coding Assistant 100 Lovable Foreign 71 BlackBox AI Coding Assistant 25 BlackBox AI Foreign
30 Elise AI Chatbot 100 Elise AI Foreign 72 Plantin Object
Recognition 24 Vortemol Foreign
31 PictureThis Object
Recognition 93 Glority Go-Global 73 torq Agent 24 Foreign
32 Jasper Copywriting 90 Jasper Foreign 74 OpenArt Image
Generation 24 OpenArt Go-Global
33 Quark AI Search 87 Alibaba Domestic 75 Retake Image
Enhancement 24 Codeway Foreign
34 Devin Coding Assistant 83 Cognition Foreign 76 BeautyCam Photo Editing 23 Meitu Domestic
35 Windsurf Coding Assistant 82 Cognition Foreign 77 Nova A.I. Chatbot 23 HUBX Foreign
36 Hypic Photo Editing 81 ByteDance Go-Global 78 Wink Video Editing 22 Meitu Domestic
37 HeyGen Video
Generation 80 HeyGen Go-Global 79 LazyFit Personal Health 22 Glority Go-Global
38 Manus Agent 75 Buttery
Eect Go-Global 80 Cal AI Object
Recognition 21 Cal AI Foreign
39 Remini Photo Editing 75 Bending
Spoons Foreign 81 PolyBuzz Companionship 21 Zuoyebang Go-Global
40 Photoroom Photo Editing 72 PhotoRoom Foreign 82 PixVerse Video
Generation 20 Aishi
Technology Go-Global
41 Rezolve AI Sales 70 Foreign 83 Vidu Video
Generation 20 Shengshu
Technology Go-Global
42 Fal Model Training 67 Fal Foreign 84 Freed AI Writing Software 20 Freed AI Foreign
43 ChatOn Chatbot 60 AIBY Foreign 85 Buer Social Media
Tools 19 Buer Foreign
44 Gamma Presentation
Generation 56 Gamma Foreign 86 Photoshop Photo Editing 19 Adobe Foreign
45 Speechify Text-to-Speech 56 Speechify Foreign 87 Base44 Coding Assistant 19 Foreign
46 Quizlet Education 54 Quizlet Foreign 88 Tezza Photo Editing 18 Tezza Foreign
47 Motion Agent 51 Motion Foreign 89 Linky Companionship 18 Kunlun
Wanwei Go-Global
48 Framer Website Builder 50 Framer Foreign 90 Prequel Video Editing 18 Prequel Foreign
49 You AI Search 50 You Foreign 91 Bible Chat Companionship 18 Bible Chat Foreign
50 Higgseld Video Editing 50 Higgseld Foreign 92 AI Mirror Portrait/Avatar 17 Polyverse Go-Global
51 Writer Marketing Tools 47 Writer Foreign 93 ideogram Image
Generation 17 ideogram Foreign
52 gethookd Marketing Tools 46 gethookd Foreign 94 Filmora Video Editing 17 Wondershare Go-Global
53 Praktika Education 42 Praktika Foreign 95 PicCollage Photo Editing 17 PicCollage Foreign
54 Genspark AI Search 42 MainFunc Go-Global 96 Manychat Customer
Support 17 Manychat Foreign
55 Splice Audio
Generation 41 Foreign 97 Fyxer AI Email Assistant 17 Fyxer AI Foreign
56 Bolt.new Coding Assistant 40 StackBlitz Foreign 98 Retell AI Agent 17 Retell AI Go-Global
57 VEED.IO Video Editing 40 VEED.IO Foreign 99 Chat & Ask AI Personal
Assistant 17 Codeway Foreign
58 Airbrush Photo Editing 40 Meitu Go-Global 100 Pimsleur Education 17 Pimsleur Foreign
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 9
4. CHINA SPECIALIZES IN CONTENT;
GLOBAL AI IS MORE DIVERSE
Nearly half of China's top 100 AI products center on media creation and refinement, with 47 focused
on video (23) or image (24) generation and editing—about 47 % of the total. This heavy concentration
reflects an ecosystem optimized for making and polishing visual content. Notable examples include
KLING AI, HeyGen, Vidu, and PixVerse on the video side, and Meitu, Hypic, BeautyPlus, BeautyCam,
OpenArt, and 即梦 AI Dreamina AI on the image side. Other categories such as search, writing, and chat
exist but remain smaller, and few products are built deeply into enterprise workows.
The global landscape looks very dierent. International products extend beyond media into categories
that support repeatable, higher-value contracts and diversified monetization models—customer
support, developer tools, model infrastructure, and productivity. Examples include Intercom and
Dialpad for support, Cursor and Replit for development, Hugging Face and Cohere for infrastructure,
and Grammarly and Glean for productivity. This breadth enables both multi-seat SaaS licenses and
usage-based APIs alongside consumer subscriptions.
The same pattern appears across adjacent verticals. Beyond media, the global list spans audio
generation, 3D modeling, and smart search—with rms such as ElevenLabs, Suno, Speechify, Perplexity,
and You.com—showing a wider spread of use cases and buyer segments. China, by contrast, remains
narrowly specialized around text, image, and especially video pipelines.
These structural dierences shape how companies make money. Global vendors benet from broader
enterprise adoption and more diversified revenue streams. Chinese applications, concentrated in
content creation, depend more on creator and consumer markets where product cycles move faster and
pricing power is weaker.
Rank Product Category Web ARR
(USD mm)
App ARR
(USD mm)
Product ARR
(USD mm) Company
1KLING AI Video Generation 136 13 149 Kuaishou
2PLAUD Article Summarization 110 34 144 PLAUD
3Meitu Image Editing 0 110 110 Meitu
4PictureThis Object Recognition 0 93 93 Glority
5Quark AI Search 0 87 87 Alibaba
6Hypic Image Editing 0 81 81 ByteDance
7HeyGen Video Generation 80 0 80 HeyGen
8Manus Agent 63 12 75 Buttery Eect
9Genspark AI Search 39 2 42 MainFunc
10 Airbrush Image Editing 3 37 40 Meitu
11 BeautyPlus Image Editing 0 26 26 Meitu
10 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
12 OpusClip Video Editing 26 0 26 OpusClip
13 OpenArt Image Generation 24 0 24 OpenArt
14 BeautyCam Image Editing 0 23 23 Meitu
15 Wink Video Editing 0 22 22 Meitu
16 LazyFit Personal Health 0 22 22 Glority
17 PolyBuzz AI Companion 0 21 21 Zuoyebang
18 PixVerse Video Generation 6 15 20 爱诗科技 (Aishi Keji)
19 Vidu Video Generation 20 0 20 生数科技 (Shengshu Keji)
20 Linky AI Companion 0 18 18 Kunlun Tech
21 AI Mirror Avatar Generation 0 17 17 Polyverse
22 Filmora Video Editing 0 17 17 Wondershare
23 Retell AI Agent 17 0 17 Retell AI
24 SeaArt AI Image Generation 15 1 16 海艺互娱 (Haiyi Huyu)
25 Gauth Education 0 16 16 ByteDance
26 Notta Meeting Assistant 10 5 16 思维巡航 (Siwei Xunhang)
27 YouCam Makeup Image Editing 0 15 15 Perfect Corp.
28 Solvely Education 0 15 15 加勒比熊猫 (Jialebi Xiongmao)
29 YouCam Perfect Image Editing 0 14 14 Perfect Corp.
30 Monica Writing Assistant 13 1 14 Buttery Eect
31 Creati Video Generation 5 9 14 ZMO.ai
32 Fotor Image Editing 8 4 12 Everimaging
33 猫箱 (Maoxiang) AI Companion 0 12 12 ByteDance
34 CoinSnap Object Recognition 0 12 12 Glority
35 Hix AI Writing Assistant 12 0 12 HIX.AI
36 LiblibAI Image Generation 12 0 12 奇点星宇 (Qidian Xingyu)
37 Mureka Music Generation 12 0 12 Kunlun Tech
38 VivaVideo Video Editing 0 11 11 QuVideo Inc.
39 Hailuo AI Video Generation 10 0 10 MiniMax
40 ACE Studio Music Generation 10 0 10 时域科技 (Shiyu Keji)
41 Kuse Productivity Tools 10 0 10 Kuse
42 Baidu AI Search AI Search 0 10 10 Baidu
43 Stone ID Object Recognition 0 9 9 Glority
44 MGX Agent 8 0 8 深度赋智 (Shendu Fuzhi)
45 开拍 (Kaipai) Video Generation 0 8 8 Meitu
46 creatify Video Editing 8 0 8 creatify
47 Clipto.AI Social Media Tools 7 0 7 Clipto.AI
48 即梦 AI (Dreamina AI) Image Generation 0 7 7 ByteDance
49 VOC AI Customer Support 7 0 7 Shulex
50 Readdy Graphic Design 7 0 7 蓝湖 (Lanhu)
51 DreamFace Video Generation 4 2 7 DreamFace
52 快影 (Kuaiying) Video Editing 0 6 6 Kuaishou
53 SelfyzAI Image Generation 0 6 6 Wondershare
54 PicWish Image Editing 5 1 6 网旭科技 (Wangxu Tech)
55 Zuoyebang Education 0 6 6 Zuoyebang
56 Question AI Education 0 6 6 Zuoyebang
57 Lovekey Keyboard Personal Assistant 0 6 6 猜猜看科技 (Caicaikan Keji)
58 讯飞听见 (Xunfei Tingjian) Meeting Assistant 0 5 5 iFLYTEK
59 PicMa Image Enhancement 0 5 5 帝视科技 (Dishi Keji)
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 11
60 Fish Audio Text-to-Speech 5 0 5 Hanabi AI
61 Meshy 3D Modeling 5 0 5 Taichi Graphics
62 Emochi AI Companion 0 5 5 FlowGPT
63 快对 (Kuaidui) Education 0 4 4 Zuoyebang
64 Perfect365 Image Editing 0 4 4 ArcSoft
65 dzine Image Generation 4 0 4 Dzine
66 小猿口算
(Xiaoyuan Kousuan) Education 0 4 4 Yuanfudao
67 Lovart Image Generation 3 0 3 奇点星宇 (Qidian Xingyu)
68 Kalodata Data Analytics 3 0 3 Kalodata
69 HiWaifu AI Companion 0 3 3 语言力量 (Yuyan Liliang)
70 Remaker Image Editing 3 0 3 Remaker
71 WaveSpeedAI Video Generation 3 0 3 WaveSpeedAI
72 Lexi Social Media Tools 3 0 3 Sandwich Lab
73 星绘 (Xinghui) Image Editing 0 3 3 ByteDance
74 洋葱学园
(Yangcong Xueyuan) Education 0 2 2 洋葱学园 (Yangcong Xueyuan)
75 JoggAI Digital Human 2 0 2 JoggAI
76 Immersive Translate Translation 2 0 2 书同文网络 (Shutongwen
Wangluo)
77 FacePlay Image Editing 0 2 2 大头兄弟 (Datou Xiongdi)
78 Spellai Image Generation 0 2 2 Polyverse
79 蜜小语 (Mi Xiaoyu) Personal Assistant 0 2 2 巨效网络 (Juxiao Wangluo)
80 HyNote Productivity Tools 0 2 2 图灵智能 (Tuling Zhinen)
81 VIGGLE Video Generation 1 1 2 跃迁引擎 (Yueqian Yinqing)
82 小猿搜题 (Xiaoyuan Souti) Education 0 2 2 Yuanfudao
83 Talkie AI Companion 1 1 2 MiniMax
84 Answer AI Education 0 2 2 ANSWER AI
85 TOPVIEW Video Generation 2 0 2 特看科技 (Tekan Keji)
86 Skywork Agent 2 0 2 Kunlun Tech
87 Jobright Job Search 2 0 2 Jobright.ai
88
AI 视频绘图写作精灵
(AI Shipin Huitu Xiezuo
Jingling)
Video Generation 0 2 2 AI 视频绘图写作精灵
(AI Shipin Huitu Xiezuo Jingling)
89 Rodin 3D Modeling 2 0 2 影眸科技 (Yingmou Keji)
90 TalkAI 练口语
(TalkAI Lian Kouyu) Education 0 2 2 惊叹科技 (Jingtan Keji)
91 Saylo AI Companion 0 2 2 元象 VERSE (Yuanxiang VERSE)
92 英语天天练
(Yingyu Tiantian Lian) Education 0 2 2 英语天天练 (Yingyu Tiantian
Lian)
93 Final Round AI Job Search 2 0 2 Final Round
94 Fictio Novel Generation 0 2 2 NovelMonkey
95 稿定设计 (Gaoding Sheji) Graphic Design 0 2 2 Gaoding
96 VivaCut Video Editing 0 2 2 QuVideo Inc.
97 Xmind Mind Mapping 0 1 1 XMind Ltd.
98 YouCut Video Editing 0 1 1 影笑科技 (Yingxiao Keji)
99 Picture Bird Object Recognition 0 1 1 Glority
100 Vivago Video Generation 1 0 1 智象未来 (Zhixiang Weilai)
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
12 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
5. CHINESE LISTED GIANTS SET
THE PACE
China's content-heavy consumer mix shapes where the money goes. Scale, cross-promotion, and model
reuse matter more than niche innovation, so recurring revenue concentrates among large platforms
rather than stand-alone apps. Meitu leads the field, turning visual demand into a steady, multi-app
business spanning capture, beautify, edit, and design. Kuaishou and Alibaba extend reach by embedding
model upgrades into video and office products, while Kunlun Tech, Perfect Corp., Wondershare, and
Baidu round out the ecosystem with tools from digital cosmetics to editing and chat.
This dominance rests on three strengths: massive user funnels built through brand and distribution,
enough capital to absorb training and inference costs while recycling R&D, and compliance and sales
teams that speed updates through app stores and enterprise channels. For startups, that means higher
entry barriers unless they plug into these networks or focus on narrow, high-value niches. For investors,
near-term AI revenue remains platform-led, with growth tied to how incumbents package, price, and
promote AI across their portfolios.
Rank Company Ticker ARR (USD mm) Product Portfolio City
1Meitu 01357.HK 230
AirBrush; BeautyCam; BeautyPlus; Meitu; Meitu Design
Studio; Meitu Cloud Edit; Meitu WHEE; Wink; Vmake AI;
RoboNeo
Xiamen
2Kuaishou 01024.HK 155 Kwai Video Editor (Kuaiying); Kling AI Beijing
3Alibaba 09988.HK 87
Tongyi Tingwu; Accio; Qwen; ModelScope; DingTalk AI Think
Tank; Bailian; Mily; Hongliu; Wohu; Wen Xiaobao; Outbound
calling agent
Hangzhou
4Kunlun Tech 300418.SZ 32 Tiangong AI; Tiangong Intelligence; Opera; Linky; Mureka;
SkyReels; Skywork Beijing
5Perfect Corp. PERF.NYSE 29 YouCam Perfect; YouCam Makeup; YouCam; YouCam Suite Shanghai
6Wondershare 300624.SZ 24 PicCut; Beat.ly; Filmora; DemoCreator; Pixso; SelfyAI; Sweet
Sele; Virbo; EdrawMind; Miaojian; Bobao Changsha
7Baidu 09888.HK 10 PicCut; Beat.ly; Filmora; DemoCreator; Pixso; SelfyAI; Sweet
Sele; Virbo; EdrawMind; Miaojian; Bobao Beijing
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 13
6. EDUCATION DRIVES CHINA'S
IN-APP REVENUE SURGE
The strongest in-app revenue growth in China is coming from the education sector. Month over month,
the top domestic gainers are homework and language apps: 快 对 (Kuaidu) (+120.16%), which scans
homework questions and returns step-by-step K–12 solutions; Zuoyebang (+56.27%) and Zuoyebang
Parent (+55.11%), which let parents track and guide study progress; 大 学 搜 题 酱 (Daxue Souti Jiang)
(+30.17%), a photo-search tool for college problem sets; and 智 能 口 语 大 师 (Zhineng Kouyu Dashi)
(+26.71%), an AI speaking coach oering real-time feedback. Together, they put education at the center
of China's near-term monetization story.
Overseas, growth is more spread out across categories such as companions, creative tools, and model
portals. Leading examples include PolyBuzz, SeaArt AI, and Qwen, with education apps like Gauth
appearing occasionally. In contrast to China—where education leads AI revenue—no single category
dominates abroad.
The reason is structural. In China, education apps monetize frequent, outcome-oriented tasks—solving
problems, practicing speech, and reinforcing learning—ideal for small, repeatable payments. Abroad,
growth spreads across multiple categories where innovation cycles and user trac, rather than a single
vertical, drive performance. The result: education is China's most consistent near-term revenue engine,
while global growth remains broad but less concentrated.
Rank Company Category Revenue (MoM %) In-App Purchases (IAP)
1Meitu Photo Editing 2.00% 10980
2Quark AI Search 2.10% 8652
3BeautyCam Photo Editing 0.89% 2340
4Wink Video Editing 3.08% 2172
5猫箱 (Mao Xiang) Companionship -14.83% 1212
6Baidu AI Search AI Search -9.25% 972
7Kaipai Video Generation 7.46% 828
8即梦 AI (Dreamina AI) Image Generation 1.52% 720
9Kwai Video Editor Video Editing 9.23% 636
10 Zuoyebang Education 56.27% 600
11 Lovekey Keyboard Personal Assistant -14.15% 576
12 iFLYTEK Tingjian Meeting Assistant 2.81% 528
14 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
13 快对 (Kuai Dui) Education 120% 420
14 AI Mate Image Generation -30.78% 384
15 小猿口算 (Xiao Yuan Kou Suan) Education 9.63% 360
16 星绘 (Xing Hui) Photo Editing 29.51% 252
17 洋葱学园 (Yang Cong Xue Yuan) Education -9.95% 240
18 蜜小语 (Mi Xiao Yu) Personal Assistant -25.25% 228
19 小猿搜题 (Xiao Yuan Sou Ti) Education 14.72% 216
20 AI 视频绘图写作精灵
(AI Shipin Huitu Xiezuo Jingling) Video Generation -21.70% 192
21 MuseAI 192
22 TalkAI 练口语
(TalkAI Lian Kouyu) Education -18.28% 180
23 英语天天练
(Yingyu Tiantian Lian) Education 6.99% 180
24 Gaoding Design Graphic Design 6.31% 156
25 AI 智能写手
(AI Zhineng Xieshou) Writing Software 7.59% 120
26 MJ 中文极速版
(MJ Zhongwen Jisu Ban) Image Generation 2.60% 108
27 说得相机提词器
(Shuo De Xiangji Ticiqi) Writing Software 11.80% 96
28 Love 键盘 (Love Jianpan) Productivity -15.18% 96
29 Starry Browser -12.92% 84
30 Zuoyebang Parent Education 55.11% 84
31 天天跳绳
(Tiantian Tiaosheng) Motion Capture -1.84% 72
32 大学搜题酱
(Daxue Souti Jiang) Education 30.17% 60
33 智能口语大师
(Zhineng Kouyu Dashi) Education 26.71% 60
34 Meitu Design Studio Image Generation 20.04% 48
35 快剪辑 (Kuai Jianji) Video Editing 0.35% 48
36 星野 (Xing Ye) Companionship -15.48% 48
37 脸猫 (Lian Mao) Image Generation -26.27% 48
38 Mubu Mind Mapping -3.84% 36
39 纳米 AI 搜索 (NanoAI Search) AI Search 26.71% 24
40 Hi Echo Education -10.84% 24
41 流利说 (Liulishuo) Education -16.09% 24
42 爱作业 (Ai Zuoye) Education 56.25% 24
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 15
7. FOUR CLUSTERS DRIVE
MOST CHINESE AI ACTIVITY
China's AI industry is clustering, not spreading evenly. Four city hubs drive most of the country's
momentum—each with a distinct engine and trade-o.
Beijing – Research to Enterprise
Beijing connects national labs and top universities with enterprise demand. Foundation-model teams
sell into banks, telecoms, and state-owned rms. Its edge is deep research talent, pilot customers with
complex workows, and policy channels that support large-scale rollouts. The trade-o is slower sales
and heavier compliance.
Shenzhen – Hardware Acceleration
Shenzhen's dense electronics supply chain lets startups pair models with robots, vision systems, and
wearables on rapid iteration cycles. Its strength is speed and engineering talent uent in both rmware
and inference. Margins are thin and export rules tight, so defensibility depends on integration and
distribution rather than model breakthroughs.
Shanghai – Commercial Integration
Shanghai's proximity to advertisers, retailers, and multinationals makes it strong in go-to-market
execution. Teams build analytics, ad-tech, and urban service platforms that plug into transport, utilities,
and public systems. The advantage is product-market fit and upgrades sold into existing budgets,
though revenue rises and falls with brand and municipal spending cycles.
Hangzhou – Operational Intelligence
Hangzhou draws on e-commerce and ntech roots to specialize in data governance, trac prediction,
and service automation—high-volume, rules-based work. Monetization comes through subscriptions
and workow seats, embedding AI into enterprise and city tools already in use. Retention is strong, and
defensibility rests on integrations and proprietary data rather than model size.
System Dynamics
Two factors support these hubs. A steady ow of engineers, product managers, and researchers keeps
local talent networks active, while government programs such as compute subsidies, industrial parks,
and pilot initiatives help move projects from testing to deployment. For founders and investors, location
is a practical choice. The key is to choose the hub that ts a company's core needs and understand the
trade-os each environment brings.
16 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
Rank Chinese Founded Company Country City Rank Chinese Founded Company Country City
1Moonshot AI China Beijing 18 影眸科技 (Ying Mou Ke Ji) China Shanghai
2Zhipu AI China Beijing 19 Otter AI US California
3Baichuan AI China Beijing 20 奇点星宇 (Qi Dian Xing Yu) China Beijing
4MiniMax China Shanghai 21 时域科技 (Shi Yu Ke Ji) China Beijing
501.AI China Beijing 22 Glority China Hangzhou
6无问芯穹 (Innigence AI) China Shanghai 23 PLAUD China Shenzhen
7Meta Sota China Shanghai 24 Zuoyebang China Beijing
8蚌壳智能 (Bang Ke Zhi Neng) China Beijing 25 Polyverse China Shenzhen
9Shengshu Technology China Beijing 26 QuVideo China Hangzhou
10 FancyTech China Hangzhou 27 HIX.AI China Shenzhen
11 Aishi Technology China Beijing 28 ZMO.AI China Hangzhou
12 Shulex China Hangzhou 29 海艺互娱 (Hai Yi Hu Yu) China Chengdu
13 思维巡航 (Si Wei Xun Hang) China Shenzhen 30 Tezign China Shanghai
14 潞晨科技 (Lu Chen Ke Ji) China Beijing 31 帝视科技 (Di Shi Ke Ji) China Fuzhou
15 恒图科技 (Heng Tu Ke Ji) China Chengdu 32 网旭科技 (Wangxu Tech) China Shenzhen
16 Jina AI China Beijing 33 语言力量 (Yu Yan Li Liang) China Chongqing
17 Kalodata China Shenzhen
Data Source: Unique Research, October 2025
@ Tech Buzz China
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 17
CONCLUSION: CHINA'S AI APP
ECONOMY ENTERS ITS SCALE PHASE
Chinese AI app makers are going where the money is—overseas. "Chuhai" is no longer a hedge; it has
become the starting premise. Teams now design from day one for dollar subscribers, transparent billing
rules, and global distribution. Company rosters show this shift across productivity, creator tools, and
developer platforms. This is not a side bet but the new default go-to-market.
At home, distribution is consolidating. Platforms with reach to hundreds of millions of users—Baidu,
ByteDance, and Meitu among them—are turning scale into defensibility. They operate large, fast-
iterating portfolios of AI web and mobile products, not just portals. Their reach drives lower acquisition
costs and faster release cycles than independent rivals can typically match.
Revenue is following that gravity. Among Chinese companies with meaningful top lines, consumer-
facing video and photo suites and utility houses still lead, but they now compete alongside global
leaders and well-funded U.S. startups. Firms such as Wondershare, XiaoYing, and Glority post strong
ARR, yet they play in a global league table dominated by frontier model vendors and emerging vertical
specialists. There is ample room to grow, but the bar for breakout scale is higher than it was a year ago.
The product mix is shifting from novelty to utility. Photo and video remain sticky, but the fastest growth
is in "get-work-done" categories: productivity suites, digital employee helpers, and developer tools. The
middle layer of the stack is lling in with toolchains that help developers ship faster, accelerating how
quickly Chinese teams can launch export-ready apps.
Looking to next year, more teams will go global. The playbook is proven, ad rails and subscription
infrastructure are in place, and many teams now price in dollars first. But a single breakout app is
unlikely to dominate the eld. The economics of distribution, model access, and cross-sell still favor the
large platforms. Glority-style utility winners can continue to mint hits, but they are unlikely to command
categories when platforms can fast-follow and bundle features into massive trac bases.
China's AI app economy is now entering its scale phase. Incumbents with reach will keep compounding.
The most ambitious startups will build both for export and for the stack, plugging into platforms
or supplying the picks and shovels. The competitive edge is no longer clever models alone—it lies
in distribution, bundling, and the ability to move up or down the stack fast enough to stay outside
someone else's moat.
18 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
PROFILES OF MAJOR CHINESE AI PLAYERS
1. Alibaba AI
Alibaba Group, one of China's largest technology conglomerates, has developed a broad AI ecosystem
that spans foundational models, developer infrastructure, enterprise productivity tools, marketing and
creative platforms, and consumer applications. The portfolio is anchored by the Tongyi ( 通义 ) family of
models, which includes the Qwen series of large language models, and is closely integrated with Alibaba
Cloud, e-commerce platforms, and productivity products.
Alibaba's AI portfolio combines deep infrastructure—covering model training, data systems, and cloud
services—with applied intelligence in productivity, marketing, and consumer experiences. Its full-stack
approach connects foundational models such as Tongyi Qwen to cloud platforms and application-layer
integrations, linking developers, businesses, and end users within a unied AI ecosystem.
I. Umbrella, Foundations, and Infra
II. Developer, Data, and Ops Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Tongyi Brand covering Alibaba's generative Al
ecosystem and services
Enterprise,
consumer,
devs
2023 Q2
Commercialization: Cloud intelligence Group revenue
+18% YoY in the March quarter of FY2025; Al-related
product revenue achieved triple-digit YoY growth for
the 7th consecutive quarter
Qwen Flagship LLM family fortext, code, and
multimodal tasks
Devs,
enterprises
2023 Q2 (ongoing
iterations)
Scale /Commercialization: ≥ 290,000 customers
adopted Qwen via Model Studio (as of jJan 2025)
Bailian Enterprise model hub for ne-
tuning,evaluation, and deploymen Enterprise lT
Public beta
2023;General
Availability 2024
Scale: ≥ 290,000 customers/tenants onboarded via
Model Studio (as of Jan 2025). Compliance: Earned
ISO/lEC 42001 AI management system certication
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Modelscope Open model community & inference
toolkit
Developers,
researchers 2022 04 270,000 models; ~16M users;
36 countries, 2025-06-30
Qoder Agentic coding copilot for IDE & CLl
workows Engineers 2025-08-22
(public launch)
plus: $1 in / $5 out per 1M tokens (0-32k;
ash: $0.3 /$1.5 per 1M tokens
MuleRun Cloud-native inference/routing &
benchmarking toolkit Platform teams
Accio Data-to-model orchestration; B2B AI
Search (Alibaba International)
Data/ML teams;
B2B buyers 2024-11-12 20-30% conversion uplift, billion-level product
coverage
Dataphin Enterprise data govemance, lineage &
AI-ready warehousing Data engineering 2018
III. Productivity and Enterprise Applications
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Yida Low-code builder with AI forms, agents,
automations OpS, IT, SMBs 2017 (internal); docs
updated 2022-12
~3M enterprises, ~10M apps,
4B+ data submissions
Tongyi Tingwu Meeting transcription, summary, action-items Knowledge workers 2023-06-01 >98% ASR; ~300 ms latengy, 1h
audio ≈ 5 min
Xiyu Multilingual meeting notes, translation, insights Cross-border teams
(The following companies are listed in alphabetical order.)
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 19
IV. Marketing, Creative, and Merchant Tools
V. Consumer Apps and Assistants
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Alimama Creative
Center
AI ad copy/image & campaign
optimization Advertisers, brands Ongoing; major AI
upgrade 2025-04 ~8k banners/sec
Luban Automated product imagery
&visual design at scale
Taobao/Tmall sellers,
brands
In production since
2016
+50% Click-Through Rate (CTR);
+40% Retumn on Ad spend (ROAS);~90% cost ↓
Pic Copilot AI photo editing/backgrounds
for cross-border e-commerce Creators, merchants Us launch: 2024-12
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Miaoya Camera AI portrait &, avatar creation app Consumers 2023 Q3
Quark AI-forward mobile browser with
answer &recommendation engines Consumers, students 2025-03 (AI revamp) MAU (Feb 2025): >100M; DAU (Feb
2025): 34.298M
Zhixiaobao AI assistant for nance, bills & service
chat (Alipay + standalone)
Consumers within
Alipay 2024 Q3-Q4
Duiyou Collaboration & workow assistant with copilots Internal teams, SMBs 2024-06-28 (Education
Edition announced)
Xinliu Workow / AI search & automation engine IT & platform 2024-07-10 (publiclaunch
reported)
Xinliu AI Assistant Cross-app AI assistant for writing, search, ops Oce users 2024-11-12 20-30% conversion uplift,
billion-level product coverage
2. Baidu AI
Baidu's AI portfolio is a fully integrated stack that connects foundational models such as ERNIE/
Wenxin with cloud delivery through Qianfan on Baidu AI Cloud, a large developer ecosystem built on
PaddlePaddle, and production applications for both enterprises and consumers. The strategy is to turn
model advances into agent-driven workflows by tightly linking models, data, tools, and deployment,
allowing customers to build, host, and operate AI services within a unied platform. Distribution ows
through Baidu's search and app surfaces as well as enterprise channels, while the commercial model
combines cloud consumption with solution-based contracts.
Baidu builds on its search foundation to transform user queries into a continuous upgrade engine for AI.
The company trains ERNIE and related models, integrating improvements directly into products already
used by consumers and enterprises, including AI search, coding assistants, and industry analytics.
Development and deployment run within Baidu AI Cloud via Qianfan and in-house developer tools,
shortening the path from research to production and keeping costs in check. The focus is on reliability,
latency, and accessible pricing rather than headline model size. AI adoption is driven by Baidu's own
trac scale, with the data-to-product loop designed to convert research progress into sustained usage
and enterprise demand.
20 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
I. Umbrella, Foundations, and Infra
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Wenxin/ERNIE Brand covering Baidu's generative-AI
models & ecosystem
Enterprise, consumer,
devs
2023 (public release)-
upgrades 2024-2025
ERNIE (WVenxin)
LLM family
Flagship LLMS (ERNIE 3.5/4.0/4.0-Turbo
→ 4.5) Devs, enterprises Major upgrades Aug 2025
(APl series upgrade)
10 variants, largest 4248 params;
MoE active 47B / 3B, dense 0.3B
Baige AI Computing
5.0
Upgraded AI compute stack for Baidu AI
Cloud Platform teams Aug 28, 2025
Qianfan ( 千帆 )
platform
Enterprise AI dev / Agent platform
(models, orchestration, data, services) Enterprise IT, builders Aug 28, 2025 - Qianfan 4.0 >460,000 enterprise users;
>1.3M agents built (Aug-sep 2025)
PaddlePaddle
(飞桨)
Deep-leaming framework & developer
ecosystem
Developers,
researchers
23.33M developers,
760,000 enterprises
II. Developer, Data, and Ops Tools
III. Productivity and Enterprise Applications
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Qianfan APis/Model
Services
Text/vision/chat APls, multi -model
hosting & routing
Developers / lsVs /
Enterprise lT
2023-2025 expansions;
Qianfan 4.0 in 2025-08
>460,000 enterprise users;
>1.3M agents built (Aug sep 2025)
AI studio / Wenxin Dev Model playgrounds, sDKs, toolchains Developers Ongoing
Comate (Code assistant) Code copilot built on ERNIE Engineers 2023 - enterprise rollouts
2024-2025
>10M developers served; 45% of new
Baidu code generated by AI (2025-09)
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Ruliu / Baidu Docs &
oce AI
AI writing /summarization /
collaboration in oce suite SMBs / Enterprises 2024-2025 feature Waves >460,000 enterprise users;
>1.3M agents built (Aug sep 2025)
Baidu GBl/ zhijin Financial analytics & intelligence Finance / Enterprise 2024-04 Report drafting time ~3 weeks → ~30 min
Baidu KeYue AI customer service / ops Enterprise Customer
Experience / Ops 2025-01 (major update) Self-service resolution ≥ 92%; Q&A
accuragy ≥ 90%
IV. Marketing, Creative, and Merchant Tools
V. Consumer Apps and Assistants
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Wenxin Yige ( 文心一格 ) Image generation & design for marketing Creators / Advertisers 2022; updates 2024-2025
Du+ Creation suite
( 度加创作工具 )
AIGC content & asset tooling for media/
ads Brands / Creators
Baidu Orange/chengpian ( 橙篇 ) AI copy & campaign content Advertisers / SMBs
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
ERNIE Bot Consumer/chat assistant app &
web Consumers Public since 2023;
upgrades 2024-2025
Baidu AI Search /
Super Assistant
AI answers in Baidu search/ app
surfaces Consumers 2024-2025 feature
Waves
MAU (Sep 2025): 615.90M; Income (Aug
2025, USD mn): Web 0; App 11; Total 11
Baidu Netdisk /
Wenku AI
AI reading, rewrite, search inside
content
Consumers,
students
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 21
3. ByteDance AI
ByteDance's AI portfolio centers on the Doubao family of models, delivered through Volcano Engine for
training, inference, and API access. Built on this foundation are agent and developer tools that integrate
with ByteDance's creative, marketing, and commerce systems. AI capabilities appear across consumer
and enterprise products as creation, recommendation, and assistant features. The approach focuses
on unied model management, cost eciency, rapid iteration, and large-scale online experimentation,
with performance measured through conversion and subscription metrics.
ByteDance applies a productized, cost-ecient model strategy and scales it through major consumer
platforms including Douyin, TikTok, CapCut, and the Doubao app. For developers, it reduces friction
with tools such as Coze and Volcano Engine Ark, and by open-sourcing Coze, extends agent use cases
beyond its own ecosystem. The company plans signicant 2025 investment in computing infrastructure
to lower inference costs and maintain predictable latency and quality. ByteDance's guiding principle
is to make AI usable, measurable, and scalable—building affordable, reliable models, deploying
them quickly across high-trac platforms, and providing easy-to-assemble tools that attract external
developers.
I. Umbrella, Foundations, and Infra
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Doubao Brand covering ByteDance's LLMs (text,
speech, multimodal)
Enterprise / Consumer
/ Devs
2024-major updates
2025
MAU (App, Aug 2025): ~157M; MOM
+6.6%
Doubao LLM family Flagship LLMs incl. Doubao-1.5 Pro
(speech + text fusion) Devs / Enterprises 2025-02 (public model
notes)
Volcano Engine Ark ByteDance model platform & infra on
Volcano Engine Enterprise IT / Devs 2023-2025
II. Developer, Data, and Ops Tools
III. Enterprise & Productivity Apps
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Coze Agent Platform Low-code AI agent builder; workows, tools,
marketplace Developers / ISVs 2025-07-25 (core projects
open-sourced)
MarsCode AI code assistant (IDE/CLl; VS Code plugin) Engineers 2024-2025 feature Waves
Volcano Engine Model
Services
Model hosting/routing & APls (Doubao + 3rd-
party) Enterprise IT 2024-2025 expansions
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Lark/Feishu AI AI writing, summarization, meeting notes, knowledge SMBs/ Enterprises 2024-2025 feature Waves
Byteplus (Volcano
Engine) Vertical AI Industry APIs (visionOCR, personalization, recsys) Retail / Finance / Media
Customer Ops AI LLM-powered customer service & operations Enterprise CX
22 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
IV. Marketing, Creative, and Merchant Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Ocean Engine Creative AI Ad creative generation & optimization integrated with
ad systems Advertisers / Agencies 2024-2025 upgrades
Capcut/Jianying AI AI video editing, eects, translation / ASR Creators / Brands
E-commerce Imaging Listing visuals, backgrounds, batch edits Merchants 2024-2025 rollouts
V. Consumer Apps and Assistants
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Doubao App ( 豆包 ) Consumer chatbot & agent hub Consumers 2024-2025 MAU 215.10M; MOMM +4.11%
Hypie Image editing (consumer) Consumers ARR (USD mn): Web 0; App 84; Total 84
Catbox ( 猫箱 ) Companionship app Consumers ARR (USD mn): Web 0; App 14; Total 14
Dreamina AI ( 即梦 AI) Image generation (consumer) Consumers ARR (USD mn): Web 0; App 7; Total 7
Gauth Education studycompanion Students (overseas) ARR (USD mn): Web 0; App 8; Total 8
Xinghui ( 星绘 ) Image editing (consumer) Consumers ARR (USD mn): Web 0; App 2; Total 2
4. Glority AI Overview
Glority is a consumer AI company that develops visual recognition tools for nature, education, and
wellness. Its apps use image classification to identify objects, provide brief explanations, and offer
simple learning aids, monetizing through freemium subscriptions. The company's AI portfolio includes
core vision models trained on labeled data; shared modules such as OCR, knowledge cards, guidance
and reminders, and safety checks; and a suite of consumer apps built on the same capture–identify–
explain workow. Distribution runs mainly through Glority's own applications rather than public APIs,
with a focus on accuracy, localization, and subscription-based revenue.
Glority follows a consumer-first, mobile-native AI strategy centered on narrowly defined visual-
recognition use cases that scale globally. Instead of offering public APIs or enterprise software, it
prioritizes end-user experience and monetizes through subscriptions, turning image-to-answer
interactions into practical, everyday utilities. With ARR ranked just behind PLAUD and ahead of
education peers, Glority relies on a lean, single-purpose app portfolio optimized for broad reach and
repeat engagement.
I. Umbrella, Foundations, and Infra
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Glority Core Platform AI model stack for visualrecognition (across apps) Internal infra
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 23
II. Developer, Data, and Ops Tools
III. Enterprise & Productivity Apps
IV. Consumer Apps and Assistants
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Glority General OCR API Generic OCR for images and documents; returns
structured text/tables (JSON) Developers / Enterprise users Active (2024-2025)
Glority Receipt OCR API Invoice/receipt OCR; outputs elds and metadata Developers (nance, operations) Active (2024-2025)
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Notesnap OCR tool for capturing anddigitizing handwritten notes Students / Note-takers
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
PictureThis Plant identifer Consumers / Hobbyists Product ARR (USD mm): 93
LazyFit AI tness coach (pose matching,tracking) Fitness users Product ARR (USD mm): 22 (AppARR
≈ 22, Web ARR :0)
Notesnap OCR and text digitization Students
Picture Bird Bird recognition Bird watchers /Students Product ARR (USD mm): 1
stone ID Rock/mineral recognition Hobbyists / Educators Product ARR (USD mm): 10
Coinsnap Coin identication and valuation Hobbyists Product ARR (USD mm): 12
5. Kuaishou AI
Kuaishou's AI portfolio centers on the Kling text-to-video model and is integrated across its core
applications—Kuaishou, Kwai, and SnackVideo. The system supports creators in producing short videos,
assists advertisers in generating and testing ad creatives, and enables merchants to create product
visuals. Performance data is continuously fed back into the tools to improve output quality over time.
Operations focus on platform-scale reliability, cost control, and governance measures such as brand
compliance and content safety. The portfolio connects models, creation tools, and distribution channels
to drive engagement, conversion, and monetization.
Kuaishou's AI strategy positions the platform as a video production engine directly tied to business
results. It concentrates on a single strength—turning ideas into short videos—and integrates that
capability across creator tools, ad workflows, and merchant content pipelines where impact is
measured through watch time, clicks, and sales. Feedback from these metrics renes performance, and
because creation and distribution occur within Kuaishou's own ecosystem, costs remain controlled and
brand standards consistent. The focus is on delivering high-quality, revenue-moving video outcomes
quickly to both professional and everyday users.
24 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
I. Umbrella, Foundations, and Infra
II. Developer, Data, and Ops Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Kling model family Kuaishou text-to-video (T2V)
foundational model /umbrella brand Creators / Consumers 2024-2025
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Kuaishou Open
Platform
Ocial developer portal for access,
auth, capabilities, docs
Extemal developers / ISVs /
Partners
Kuaishou open API /
OAuth
Platform authorization & API calls
(appld/appsecret, callback,scopes)
Developers / Platform
integration teams
Kling studio / Creator
Tooling
T2V creation & batch rendering tools
(Web/App)
Creators / MCNs /
Studios
2024-2025 iterations (incl. Kling
2.0, Apr 2025)
III. Enterprise & Productivity Apps
IV. Marketing, Creative, and Merchant Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Kling studio /
Creator Tooling
Text-to-video (T2V) creation &
batch rendering tools (Web/App)
Creators / MCNs /
Studios
2024-2025 iterations (incl.
kling 2.0, Apr 2025)
V. Consumer Apps and Assistants
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
KLING AI Consumer text-to-video generation
product Consumers / Creators 2024-2025 Income (ARR, Aug 2025): Web $144M;
App $16M; Total $160M
Kuaiying ( 快影 ) Mobile video editor by Kuaishou Consumers / Creators Income (ARR, Aug 2025): Web $0M; App
$6M; Total $6M
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Kling Creative
Generation
T2V ad/asset creation from prompts, storyboard-
variants-export Creators / Brands 2024-2025
Ads Creative AI (within
Magnetic Engine)
AI-assisted creative assembly, rapid A/B; dynamic
variants tied to delivery Advertisers / Agencies 2024-2025
AI Merchant Asset
Automation
Auto-generate product videos & thumbnails, live-
clip highlights; listing overlays Merchants / E-commerce ops 2024-2025
Template & Prompt
Libraries Ready-made story/ad templates & prompt presets Creators / Marketers 2024-2025
Brand & Quality Controls
(AI)
Guardrails for style/logos/CTAs; safety checks for
paid distribution Brand / Marketing ops 2024-2025
Creative Measurement
Hooks
Exports/identiers for downstream measurement
(Click-Through Rate (CTR) / Cost Per Acquisition
(CPA) lift; holdouts)
Analytics / Growth
teams 2024-2025
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 25
6. Manus (Buttery Eect)
Butterfly Effect is a technology company founded in China and now headquartered in Singapore.
Although it is not counted among Chinese AI companies in this year's rankings, it is included here as a
notable case study due to its recent reorganization and relocation. The company was China-founded
and China-funded, making it a representative example of China-linked AI rms expanding overseas.
Its star product, Manus, is a general-purpose AI agent that plans tasks, uses tools, and produces nished
outputs such as slides, web pages, spreadsheets, and visualizations instead of chat transcripts. Manus
launched on an invite-only basis in March 2025, with strong early demand and resale of invite codes
online.
In China, Buttery Eect announced on March 11 2025 that it would deploy Alibaba's Qwen model for its
China-facing assistant, while its earlier product, Monica, completed registration in Beijing. By mid-2025,
the company had shifted its headquarters to Singapore and scaled back operations in China, citing
regulatory limits on foreign models and a focus on overseas protability.
Manus remains the core oering, featuring a Broad Research mode that coordinates over one hundred
sub-agents for large-scale research and analysis. The product emphasizes end-to-end task completion,
multi-agent scaling, and parallel localized and global deployments. In April 2025, Butterfly Effect
raised US $75 million led by Benchmark, with participation from Tencent Holdings, ZhenFund, and
HSG Capital, valuing the company at about US $500 million. It reports approximately US $91 million in
revenue, with Manus contributing the majority.
Screenshot from Manus website, as of May 2025.
26 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
7. Meitu AI
Meitu uses AI as a visual operations layer rather than a single app. It builds image and video intelligence
into the entire creation ow from capture and beautify to edit, design, and generate. The same modules
for detection, segmentation, enhancement, and style are reused across BeautyPlus, BeautyCam, Meitu
App, Vmake AI, and other products. A hybrid pipeline runs quick effects on device and sends high
resolution or batch work to the cloud. This keeps latency low while maintaining consistent quality at
large scale.
Meitu diers by focusing deeply on imaging and design instead of spreading across chat, productivity, or
ads. It prefers reusable building blocks over one o launches, so improvements ow into many products
at once and the return on data and training compounds. Monetization relies on consumer subscriptions
and in app upgrades. Visual quality, safety controls, and brand governance are built into the stack,
allowing frequent style updates without sacricing reliability.
I. Umbrella, Foundations, and Infra
II. Developer, Data, and Ops Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Meitu Imaging AI
Stack
In-house visual models and inference (capture
→ beautify → edit → design) powering Meitu’s
portfolio
Meitu product
family
Platform reach: ≈ 195M monthly active users
(platform-level, undeduplicated); Portfolio
breadth: 7 web products and 10 apps.
AI Cloud Inference
Engine
Cloud pipelines for high-resolution generation/
restoration and batch processing
Developers /
Internal apps
On-Device AI
Pipeline
Real-time eects/beautication on device
(camera apps)
App users /
Engineering
Unied Model
Routing System
Middleware to deploy/update models across
apps
Engineering /
Product
AI Data Governance
Platform
Dataset curation, labeling, privacy, and content
moderation
Data Ops /
Compliance
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Meitu Cloud Repair
( 美图云修 )
Cloud-based AI enhancement/repair for images (batch,
upscaling) Developers / Studios
RoboNeo Internal AI engine/components used across Meitu apps Engineering / Product
III. Productivity and Enterprise Applications
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Meitu Design Studio
( 美图设计室 )
AI design & asset creation (templates, product visuals,
batch output) SMBs / Creators
Vmake AI AI-assisted visuals for product photos and marketing videos Merchants / Marketers
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 27
IV. Marketing, Creative, and Merchant Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
AirBrush AI photo editor for polished, share-ready visuals Creators / Inuencers
Meitu WHEE ( 站酷 WHEE) Creative generator for posters and branded assets Creators / SMBs
V. Consumer Apps and Assistants
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Meitu ( 美图秀秀 ) AI-powered photo and video editing app Consumers / UGC Creators
BeautyPlus AI beautication & editing Consumers / UGC Creators
BeautyCam ( 美颜相机 ) Camera app with real-time beautication Consumers
Wink Mobile video editing & eects Consumers / Short-video creators
KaiPai ( 开拍 ) Simple capture/quick-shoot app Consumers
8. PLAUD
PLAUD is a hardware-and-software AI company based in Shenzhen, China, founded in 2021. The
company develops wearable AI note-taking devices that capture, transcribe, and summarise spoken
and written content into concise, structured outputs. Its agship products, the Plaud Note and Plaud
NotePin, integrate AI-driven transcription, summarisation, and workow tools designed for meetings,
interviews, calls, and other real-world use cases.
The devices operate in tandem with the Plaud companion app and cloud platform, supporting multi-
language transcription, speaker identification, and workflow templates. One use case is PLAUD is
compliant with HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR and
EN 18031 standards and allows healthcare
professionals who need secure recording,
transcription, and summarisation of
medical consultations.
The company monetises through
hardware sales and subscription services
for transcription and summarisation.
It reports meaningful annual recurring
revenue (approximately $125 million)
and is expanding into academic-PDF
summarisation, team knowledge spaces
with admin controls, and developer APIs
and SDKs with transparent pricing and
service-level commitments.
Plaud Note / Plaud Note Pin Source: Plaud ocial website.
28 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
PLAUD Note
MagSafe, card-sized AI recording & note-
taking device (phone/in- person recording
→ transcription & summarization).
Professionals
(meetings, interviews,
phone calls)
Initial launchr 2023-06
(Kickstarter, campaign
6/27-8/16); Mainland
China retail: 2025-09-22
Kickstarter raised $1.1M from
7,564 backers, Mainland
China launch announced
Note, Note Pro, NotePin S
(2025-09-22)
PLAUD Notepin
Wearable AI recording "capsule" for hands-
free continuous capture → transcription &
summarization.
Consumers and
professionals
(handsfree scenarios)
2024-08-28 (rst media
announcement)
PLAUD Note Pro
Upgraded card device (4-mic array, automatic
phone/in- person switching, tap-to-highlight,
real-time human-AI collaboration).
Professionals and
teams
2025-10-09 (ocial
release); ships in
October
PLAUD Developer
Platform (Apls
&SDKS)
Full-stack interfaces for transcription, multi-
dimensional summarization, JSON output, and
CRM/EHR integrations.
Developers / Enterprise
IT
2025-10-07 (ocial
announcement)
PLAUD Web Desktop (PC/web) AI notes & transcription
entry point. Professionals 2025-06-20 (site news)
9. Tencent AI
Tencent's AI portfolio follows a full-stack, large-scale distribution strategy anchored by the Hunyuan
family of large language models. These models are deeply integrated with Tencent Cloud and Weixin/
WeChat products. The portfolio spans three main areas: foundational models and developer services
(training and inference, APIs, and model hosting); enterprise productivity and vertical solutions (copilot
features embedded in daily workflows); and marketing and commerce tools linked to Tencent's
advertising and payment systems.
Tencent takes a pragmatic approach to AI, embedding it into services already used by hundreds of
millions of people rather than focusing on standalone launches. The Hunyuan models are central, but
distribution and execution drive adoption: WeChat and Tencent Cloud convert model advances into
everyday utilities for consumers and efficiency tools for businesses. The emphasis is on reliability,
speed, and unit economics rather than model size. AI features appear as assistants within chats,
meetings, and documents, reducing friction and encouraging usage. Tencent also opens parts of its
stack through cloud APIs and selected partnerships while maintaining control over rollout and safety.
This strategy leverages scale and integration to translate AI into sustained engagement and revenue.
I. Umbrella, Foundations, and Infra
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Hunyuan GenAI stack brand (models.cloud APls,
assistants)
Enterprise / Consumer /
Devs 2023; major upgrades 2024-2025
Hunyuan LLM Flagship LLM (text+multimodal; Turbo
S/T1) Devs / Enterprises 2024-2025 major iterations; T1
launched 2025-03
Hunyuan Vision/
video
Vision-language for image /video /
OCR Devs / Media / Retail Site refresh 2025-10
Tencent cloud
Hunyuan APis
Text / image / chat / tool APls on
Tencent Cloud
Developers / iSVs /
Enterprise IT Docs updated 2025-08/09
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 29
II. Developer, Data, and Ops Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Tencent cloud Hunyuan
APis
Text / image / le-chat & control APls;
quotas, rate limits, SDKs Developers / lsVs 2023-09
Model Services on Tencent
cloud
Model hosting/routing; access to
Hunyuan and select third-party models Enterprise IT 2025-09
Data & AI Tooling (TDsQL/
TBDS / Oceanus)
Data warehousing/streaming
underpinning AI workloads
Data engineering / Platform
teams
~2017 (TBDS); ongoing
(Oceanus)
III. Productivity and Enterprise Applications
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Tencent Meeting (VooV)-AI Minutes Real-time meeting notes & summanes Knowledge workers 2025-08
WeCom / Tencent Docs AI AI writing, summarization & collaboration
across oce suite SMBs / Enterprises 2024-2025
Code Assistant (cloud) Code copilot integrated with Hunyuan &
partner models Engineers 2025
IV. Marketing, Creative, and Merchant Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Tencent Ads- Creative AI Asset generation / optimization
integrated with ad systems Advertisers / Agencies 2024-2025
Video/UGC Creation
Aids
Creator tools across video platforms
leveraging VLM/AIGC Creators
V. Consumer Apps and Assistants
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Weixin (wechat)-AI Search/
Assistant
AI search & answers in Weixin;
Hunyuan + partner models Consumers 2025-02 (beta) MAU ≈ 1.4B (Q1 2025)
Yuanbao (AI-native app) AI-native consumer assistant Consumers 2025-03 (iO5 CN #1; WeChat
embed tests)
DAU x20 (Feb-Mar 2025); AppStore
CN #1 (2025-03-03)
30 The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025
10. Zuoyebang AI
Zuoyebang is a Beijing-based edtech company serving K–12 and university learners. Its AI strategy
centers on camera-rst homework solving, intelligent tutoring, and study assistance delivered through
a core learning app with supporting web and mobile tools. The ecosystem includes parent features and
adjacent utilities such as Q&A, scanning, and OCR for text recognition. AI is positioned as a practical tool
to speed up problem solving and improve study outcomes, not as a broad multi-suite platform.
Zuoyebang's product shortens the path from a photo of a question to a clear, step-by-step solution. A
self-developed model tuned for problem solving and explanation powers the experience, using camera
capture, textbook mapping, and structured guidance instead of open-ended chat. The company's
strength lies in its tight alignment with local curricula, a large feedback base for refinement, and
connected tools for parents and schools that keep the service rooted in daily homework routines.
I. Umbrella, Foundations, and Infra
II. Developer, Data, and Ops Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Zuoyebang LLM /
"Galaxy" Model
In-house large model for problem solving, writing,
tutoring Education product family 2023-09 (public reveal)
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Zuoyebang photo
Submission APl
Reverse-engineered HTTP APl for photo
question submission and solution retrieval;
supports POST/GET: no public docs
Independent
developers / scrapers
Unocial
(observed
2021+)
III. Enterprise & Productivity Apps
IV. Marketing, Creative, and Merchant Tools
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Zuoyebang
“云思智学”
Digital education solutions for schools (smart
homework, assignments, campus services)
K-12 schools /
Teachers
In operation (recent
years)
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Speed Writing AI writing tool for article generation,
editing, PPT drafting, etc.
Students,
professionals
Public by 2024 (reported May
2024, Tencent News)
Monthly downloads: 1,466,000 (one
version, Tencent News)
Ningka Camera AI camera / image processing tool
(photos / ocR / stylistic eects)
Students, general
users
Introduced alongside AI suite
(2024, Tencent News)
The State of Chinese AI Apps 2025 31
V. Consumer Apps and Assistants
Product/Platform What It ls Primary User Launch Time Relevant Metrics
Zuoyebang App Core app: photo search, answers, courses K-12 students MAU 18.418M; Rev $4M
快对 (KuaiDui) Textbook answers, photo match Students/ Parents Rev $2M
Zuoyebang Parent Parent companion; homework support Parents
Question AI Web LLM solver Students (web) Rev $5M; DAU ~ 1M (6 mo)
PolyBuzz Emotional-support chat General users Rev $22MM
Ningka Camera Camera & OCR utility Students/ Parents
快问 AI/ QuestionAI.ai Lightweight Q&A Students
大学搜题室 (College Solver) University Q&A University students
Speed writing AI writing Students
Other AI Education Apps
Several Chinese companies beyond Zuoyebang provide AI-powered learning products focused on
homework assistance, photo-based question solving, and tutoring support. These applications mainly
target K–12 students and are delivered through mobile platforms. Most do not publicly disclose their
foundational model architectures or oer developer-facing APIs, but a number of them have achieved
signicant adoption in the domestic education market.
Gauth is ByteDance's agship education AI app, oering instant homework help via photo-
based question solving. It ranks among the top AI apps in China by active users and monetization,
and serves as a direct competitor to Zuoyebang.
小猿搜题 (Xiaoyuan Souti) is a long-standing K–12 photo-solve education app.
Solvely ( 学之乎 ) is an AI-powered question-answering app that emerged more recently. It oers
photo upload and solution functionality and is featured in app charts as a rising AI education tool.
斑马 AI (Zebra AI) focuses on early education with interactive lessons, using animated content and
voice to support learning in younger children. The app emphasizes AI-led guidance for preschool
and primary-level learners.
鹿老师 (Deer Teacher) is an AI study companion oering personalized tutoring features. The app
supports photo-based question solving.
题拍拍 (TiPaiPai) oers a lightweight photo-based Q&A service. Its user experience closely mirrors
Zuoyebang and Xiaoyuan Souti.
网 易 有 道 (Youdao NYSE:DAO) operates a suite of AI education tools, including Youdao Dictionary
and AI Tutor apps.
