ByteDance joins Alibaba, Tencent to offer freebies in bid to acquire AI app users
TikTok parent plans to give more than 100,000 tech products as gifts, as well as red packets through lucky draws on the Doubao app
In an intensifying giveaway war among artificial intelligence apps in China, TikTok parent ByteDance’s Doubao chatbot has joined the fray to offer robots and drones, following multibillion-yuan campaigns from Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings to hand out cash and bubble tea.
ByteDance said on Tuesday that it planned to give more than 100,000 tech products as gifts, as well as red packets of up to 8,888 yuan (US$1,284), through lucky draws on the Doubao app on the eve of Lunar New Year.
These gifts, ranging from Unitree robots and DJI drones to electric vehicles from Audi and Mercedes-Benz, would be linked to Doubao’s large language model, according to ByteDance.
The Beijing-based firm said the winners of the Unitree robots and the EVs would get the rights to use them instead of owning them outright.
ByteDance’s move has ramped up a high-stakes battle among Chinese Big Tech companies, including Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, to acquire users for their AI apps during the Spring Festival, pouring billions of yuan in cash prizes and gifts. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.