From Kuaishou to iQiyi, Chinese tech firms see stronger profits as they tout potential of generative AI
- Short-video company Kuaishou posted a group-level quarterly net profit for the first time, while Baidu-backed iQiyi also swung to profit
- Kuaishou has begun an internal test of its chatbot ‘Kuaishou AI conversation’, as iQiyi and Bilibili deploy generative AI in content creation
Chinese technology companies got back on track for growth in the second quarter, as they continue to pin high hopes on generative artificial intelligence (AI) services amid uncertainties in the macro environment.
Short-video app operator Kuaishou Technology on Tuesday posted quarterly revenue of 27.7 billion yuan (US$3.8 billion), up 27.9 per cent from the same period in 2022. The increase was primarily attributed to growth of its online marketing services, live-streaming and e-commerce business, the company said.
Profit reached 1.48 billion yuan, compared with a 3.18 billion loss in the June quarter last year, marking the company’s “first-ever group-level net profit in a quarter since our listing on the [Hong Kong] stock exchange in 2021”, Kuaishou said in its earnings report.
Like other Chinese Big Tech companies from Tencent Holdings to Baidu, Kuaishou is betting on advances in AI technology to improve its services. The company is set to join the sector’s heated competition with the release of its own large language model KwaiYii this month.
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Cheng Yixiao, chief executive of Kuaishou, said in the post-earnings conference call that the company has begun an internal test of its chatbot ‘Kuaishou AI conversation’ in Kuaishou’s Android app, calling it the “first intelligent conversation product based on large language models in the short-video and live-streaming industry”.
