BUSINESS

Chinese Tech Giants Turn College Admissions Into Latest AI Battleground

Published: Jun. 11, 2026 4:15 a.m. GMT+8

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Qwen launched its Qwen Gaokao Application Expert on June 10. Photo: Qwen

Chinese tech giants including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd., and Baidu Inc. are rolling out artificial intelligence agents to help millions of high school graduates apply for universities, turning the annual national college entrance exam into a major battleground for consumer AI dominance.

The push to capture the 12.9 million students who took this year’s exam, known as the Gaokao, underscores the fierce competition among Chinese internet firms to acquire users and embed their large language models into everyday services following expensive marketing wars earlier this year.

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Explore the story in 30 seconds

Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu launch AI agents for Gaokao university applications, targeting 12.9 million students.
The push reflects intense AI market competition; by April, domestic AI-native apps reached 460 million monthly active users.
Major AI models temporarily disabled exam-related features during Gaokao to prevent cheating.

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Who’s Who

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. launched its Qwen Gaokao Application Expert, billed as China’s first full-cycle AI agent for university applications. The company invested 3 billion yuan in Lunar New Year campaigns, and its Qwen AI app had 166 million monthly active users as of March.

Tencent Holdings Ltd.: Tencent Holdings Ltd. rolled out the Yuanbao Gaokao Pass via its Yuanbao AI and QQ Browser to assist students with university applications. WeChat also opened its AI ecosystem to third-party developers. As of March, Yuanbao had 57.35 million monthly active users.

Baidu Inc.: Baidu Inc. is one of the Chinese tech giants rolling out AI agents to assist Gaokao graduates. The company added AI application reports to its search engine, directing users to its Ernie assistant, which uses models like Ernie 4.5 Turbo and DeepSeek-V4-Pro to analyze university options.

ByteDance Ltd.: ByteDance Ltd., though having the largest AI user base with its Doubao app (345 million monthly active users as of March), did not launch major Gaokao-specific campaigns. It temporarily disabled exam-related features during the test to prevent cheating, focusing instead on broader AI adoption.

Meituan: Meituan is one of the first companies to test integration with Tencent's WeChat AI ecosystem, which recently opened to developers. This allows Meituan to potentially offer its services through WeChat's AI platform, part of a broader push by Chinese tech firms to embed AI into everyday services.

Trip.com Group Ltd.: Trip.com Group Ltd. is among the first companies to test integration with Tencent's WeChat AI ecosystem, as Chinese tech firms expand AI agents for services like university applications and third-party functionality.

Tongcheng Travel Holdings Ltd.: Tongcheng Travel Holdings Ltd. is among the first companies to test integration with Tencent's WeChat AI ecosystem, as part of a broader strategy by Chinese tech firms to embed AI models into third-party services for everyday use.

Didi Global Inc.: Didi Global Inc., a Chinese ride-hailing company, was among the first firms to test integration with Tencent's WeChat AI ecosystem, reflecting broader efforts by tech giants to embed large language models into everyday services and compete for users.

China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd.: China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. is a partner of Alibaba's Qwen AI, allowing users to book flights directly through the AI application as part of Alibaba's strategy to integrate third-party services into its large language model ecosystem.

Luckin Coffee Inc.: Luckin Coffee Inc. is a partner of Alibaba's AI assistant Qwen, allowing users to order food directly through the service. This integration is part of Chinese tech firms' broader strategy to embed AI models into everyday services.

KFC: KFC, the fast-food chain, is mentioned as a partner of Alibaba's AI assistant Qwen. Users can order food directly through KFC via Qwen's third-party skills integration, part of Alibaba's strategy to embed AI into everyday services.

Ant Group Co. Ltd.: Ant Group Co. Ltd. is mentioned in the article for its AI app Afu, which had 27.15 million monthly active users as of March, ranking behind ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Qwen, DeepSeek, and Tencent's Yuanbao in China's consumer AI market.

DeepSeek: DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company with 127 million monthly active users as of March 2025. Its V4-Pro model is used by Baidu's Ernie assistant for Gaokao application analysis. During the exam period, DeepSeek temporarily disabled cheating-related features like photo problem solving and essay tutoring.

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What Happened When

Early 2026：: Tech companies spent over 8 billion yuan to attract users through digital red envelope campaigns during the Lunar New Year, with Alibaba alone investing 3 billion yuan.

As of March 2026：: ByteDance's Doubao led the consumer AI market with 345 million monthly active users, followed by Qwen (166M), DeepSeek (127M), Yuanbao (57.35M), and Afu (27.15M).

By April 2026：: Monthly active users of domestic AI-native apps reached a record 460 million, according to QuestMobile.

Early June 2026：: Major AI models like Doubao, Yuanbao, Qwen, and DeepSeek temporarily disabled exam-related features (e.g., photo-based problem solving, essay tutoring) during the Gaokao testing period to prevent cheating.

June 8, 2026：: Alibaba launched its Qwen Gaokao Application Expert through its AI application Qwen, billing it as the country's first full-cycle AI agent for university applications. Tencent also rolled out the Yuanbao Gaokao Pass via its Yuanbao AI and QQ Browser. Baidu added AI application reports to its search engine, directing users to its Ernie assistant.

AI generated, for reference only