China's AI Giants Are Buying Users With Digital Red Envelopes
Alibaba, Tencent, and others are dropping millions on freebies and fresh models to capture users before Lunar New Year.
China's tech titans are in full user-acquisition mode. Alibaba, Tencent, and other major AI players are racing to launch new models while showering potential users with cash incentives disguised as traditional "red envelopes."
The timing is strategic. Lunar New Year represents peak engagement season in China, and these companies are betting big that free money plus shiny new AI tools equals sticky users.
It's a familiar playbook from China's tech wars — remember when ride-hailing and food delivery apps burned through billions on subsidies? Now that same aggressive growth strategy is hitting the AI sector.
The moves signal just how competitive China's domestic AI market has become. With Western competitors largely locked out, Chinese companies are fighting each other for dominance in what could become the world's largest AI user base.