Chinese Big Tech to see big AI gains in social, educational and office use, report says

Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is primarily benefiting users in three areas – social and entertainment, education, and office collaboration – according to a new report, highlighting where the country’s technology giants may see the biggest gains as they race to integrate generative AI (GenAI) into nearly every part of their businesses.

In their eagerness to capitalise on the rapid development of large language models (LLMs) – the technology behind GenAI products such as ChatGPT – tech firms have significantly expanded the use of AI-driven features across a variety of service offerings, mobile internet market consultancy QuestMobile said in a report published on Tuesday.

Big Tech firms such as internet search giant Baidu, WeChat operator Tencent Holdings, TikTok owner ByteDance and e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post, stand to gain the most by integrating AI into products that already have large user bases, according to the report.

Alibaba fintech affiliate Ant Group has one of the most popular AI applications with its “intelligent financial assistant” called Zhixiaobao, which offers help with wealth management and insurance. The assistant had nearly 60 million users at the end of June, according to QuestMobile.