A QuestMobile AI user-insight report says that as of August 2026 China's AI-native apps reached 537 million users, with average usage of 85.1 sessions per person per month, up 67.1% year over year; comprehensive news apps and search engines averaged 123.6 and 35.8 sessions respectively, down 7.6% and 21.7%, which the report reads as the "first entry point" for finding information shifting from search boxes and feeds to AI chat windows. August's top five AI apps by active penetration were Doubao (77.2%), Qwen (29.4%), DeepSeek (22.8%), Yuanbao (8.2%) and Ant Afu (5.8%); nearly 45% of users used three or more AI apps a month, and heavy users averaged 172.9 sessions. The report adds that competition is moving from model capability to ecosystem and scenario depth, and outlines five marketing playbooks including launch events, paid and soft ads, red-packet subsidies, content co-creation and cross-brand tie-ins.

QuestMobile·Doubao·Qwen·+5