TECH

ByteDance’s Doubao Dominates Spring Festival Gala With 1.9 Billion AI Interactions

Published: Feb. 18, 2026 4:22 a.m. GMT+8

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Doubao officially launched its Spring Festival campaign on Feb. 16, distributing holiday red envelopes to users. Photo: VCG

ByteDance Ltd.’s conversational artificial intelligence app Doubao seized a prime marketing position during China’s Spring Festival Gala, logging 1.9 billion interactions as the company leveraged the nation’s most-watched television broadcast to accelerate mass adoption.

Although ByteDance’s cloud-computing arm, Volcano Engine, served as the official AI cloud partner for the 2026 gala, the consumer-facing Doubao app eclipsed it in visibility through repeated on-screen placements and prominent content integration.

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ByteDance’s AI app Doubao logged 1.9 billion interactions during China's 2026 Spring Festival Gala, boosted by heavy on-screen promotion.
Doubao enabled real-time lyric translation, background info, and produced visual effects for performances; peak model usage saw 63.3 billion tokens processed in one minute.
Competing apps from Tencent (Yuanbao) and Alibaba (Qwen) also ran major campaigns; on Feb. 17, Ant Group's Afu, Yuanbao, and Doubao ranked top on China’s iOS app chart.

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Who’s Who

ByteDance Ltd.: ByteDance Ltd. heavily promoted its conversational AI app, Doubao, during China's Spring Festival Gala, achieving 1.9 billion interactions. Doubao appeared in slogans, as a voice assistant, and was integrated into sketches, processing 63.3 billion tokens in one minute at peak demand. The company also used its Seedance 2.0 video-generation model for visual effects. This aggressive push highlights ByteDance's competition with rivals like Tencent and Alibaba in the generative AI market.

Tencent Holdings Ltd.: Tencent Holdings Ltd. is a Chinese technology giant competing in the generative AI market. Its AI app, Yuanbao, offered cash rewards tied to its social features during a recent holiday promotion. Yuanbao also placed second on Apple Inc.'s iOS free-app chart for the Chinese mainland, behind Ant Group Co. Ltd.'s Afu.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is actively competing in the generative AI market in China. Its AI app, Qwen, held the fourth position on Apple's iOS free-app chart for the Chinese mainland according to a February 17 listing. Alibaba also launched its Qwen3.5-Plus model and ran a "Qwen Treats" campaign, attracting over 130 million users for services like food ordering and ticket booking.

Ant Group Co. Ltd.: Ant Group Co. Ltd.'s app, Afu, achieved the top spot on Apple Inc.'s iOS free-app chart for mainland China on February 17, as per the article's information.

Apple Inc.: Apple Inc. is mentioned in the context of its iOS free-app chart for the Chinese mainland. On February 17, Ant Group Co. Ltd.'s app, Afu, ranked first on this chart, with Tencent's Yuanbao, ByteDance's Doubao, and Alibaba's Qwen following.

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What Happened When

February 9, 2026, 9:46 p.m.：: ByteDance's Doubao experienced peak demand during the 2026 Spring Festival Gala, processing 63.3 billion tokens in a single minute after a host invited viewers to participate in an interactive segment.

February 17, 2026：: ByteDance disclosed that Doubao users created more than 50 million themed avatars and sent 100 million Lunar New Year greetings on Lunar New Year’s Eve. The company also distributed 100,000 technology products as part of the campaign.

February 17, 2026：: Alibaba released its Qwen3.5-Plus model on the same day its 'Qwen Treats' campaign attracted over 130 million users.

February 17, 2026：: Ant Group's Afu ranked first on Apple iOS free-app chart for mainland China, followed by Tencent’s Yuanbao, Doubao, and Alibaba’s Qwen.

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