ByteDance to expand popular chatbot but sees AI video as more important market
ByteDance sees AI chatbots as a slower growth opportunity and instead has prioritised AI video generators, according to local media
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok and its Chinese sibling Douyin, is doubling down on its investments in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), according to the company’s chief executive.
ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo, in outlining his objectives for the fourth quarter, said the company would “keep expanding [its] advantage in current key [GenAI] applications” and “reinforce several vertical fields”, according to a memo circulated internally and seen by employees who spoke to the South China Morning Post.
ByteDance declined to comment when reached on Thursday.
The Beijing-based company operates the Doubao AI chatbot in China and its overseas equivalent, called Cici, as well as several AI-powered video tools including Sora rival Jimeng AI, video models PixelDance and Seaweed, and video editor Jianying, marketed as CapCut overseas.
However, ByteDance saw AI chatbots as a slower growth opportunity and instead has prioritised AI video generators, according to an article in local media 36Kr on Wednesday.
This is despite the fact that Doubao has emerged as the most popular AI chatbot in China, with nearly 60 million monthly active users (MAUs), becoming the second-most popular globally in terms of MAUs after OpenAI’s ChatGPT, according to a November ranking by Aicpb.com, a website that tracks the popularity of global AI products.
