Chinese AI apps are turning to cash handouts to attract new users, the latest sign of the country’s hyper-competitive tech landscape.
Tech giants Baidu and Tencent are both offering virtual “red envelopes” as signup incentives — a nod to the cash gifts given to loved ones during Lunar New Year.
AI apps have emerged as the next frontier in the country’s tech arms race, as firms rush to inject their chatbots with shopping and payment tools.
It reflects China’s focus on widespread AI adoption: Companies are prioritizing proliferation over profitability. AI business models in China “still haven’t been figured out,” a Trivium China analyst argued on a recent podcast. Consumer-facing apps “do have subscriptions, but nobody’s paying for them.”