ByteDance’s AI Chatbot Doubao Surpasses 100 Million Daily Active Users
According to an exclusive report published by the Chinese media outlet 36Kr on December 24, 2025, Doubao has exceeded 100 million daily active users (DAU). Notably, sources within ByteDance revealed that Doubao achieved this milestone with the lowest expenditure on user growth and marketing of any product in the company's history to reach the 100-million user mark.
The report links the application’s rapid ascent to strong user retention and the continued activation of creative scenarios through its underlying models, specifically the "Seedream" image generation model and the "Seedance" video generation model. Viral photo-editing trends associated with the app have reportedly driven millions of daily organic downloads. Having launched in August 2023, Doubao secured an early advantage in the domestic market, establishing a foothold before the rollout of competing services such as Kimi and offerings from other major tech firms.
To sustain this momentum, ByteDance has reportedly upgraded its organizational structure. The "Seed" team, which oversees the Doubao large model, has integrated with the company's AI Lab, with Wu Yonghui appointed to lead the consolidated unit. This strategic focus comes amidst fierce competition. For context, the report notes that Tencent spent approximately RMB 6 billion (US$833 million) promoting its Yuanbao app between February and July of 2025. Similarly, Alibaba has intensified promotional efforts for its AI products toward the end of the year.
While the surge in traffic has raised internal concerns regarding the high costs of computational inference and the lack of a clearly defined path for consumer-facing commercialization, the report highlights a bright spot in the business-facing sector. Doubao’s Model-as-a-Service (MaaS) commercialization has reportedly exceeded expectations, achieving high cost-effectiveness and favorable gross margins through technical optimization.
Looking forward, the report indicates that Doubao is poised for further mass-market exposure. ByteDance’s cloud division, Volcano Engine, has been selected as the exclusive AI cloud partner for the 2026 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Doubao is expected to feature prominently in the event's interactive segments, a move likely to deepen its penetration into the daily lives of mainstream users.