# AI apps

Red Envelopes as Weapons: China’s Tech Giants Gamble Big to Buy AI Users This Lunar New Year

China’s tech giants are reviving Lunar New Year cash giveaways to accelerate AI app adoption: Tencent’s Yuanbao will distribute 1 billion yuan, Baidu’s Wenxin 500 million yuan, and ByteDance is showcasing its cloud under the Spring Gala. The tactics expose a strategic split—consumer subsidies to buy attention versus infrastructure plays to win enterprise customers—and highlight the fragility of changing user habits with cash alone.

SoBiz2026年1月29日 03:20

#China#Tencent#Baidu

High angle view of rooftop HVAC units on a building in Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam.

Technology

Pony Ma Bets on Another Red‑Envelope Blitz to Jump‑Start Tencent’s AI App

Tencent will give away 10 billion yuan in Spring Festival red envelopes via its new AI app Yuanbao, aiming to reproduce the viral growth that WeChat achieved in 2015. The campaign underscores Tencent’s strategy of using cultural moments and heavy subsidies to drive rapid user adoption of new services, even as it faces competitive and regulatory pressures.

SoBiz2026年1月26日 10:10

#Ma Huateng#Tencent#Yuanbao