Chinese tech companies are accelerating their expansion as they target the AI market. Promising AI startups are moving to expand through listings or fundraising. Big tech firms are also stepping up efforts aimed at popularising AI.

Baidu’s generative AI assistant, Ernie Assistant, has surpassed 200 million monthly active users, the report said. Chinese short-form video platform Kuaishou Technology is moving into full-scale monetisation in the generative AI market with its self-developed AI-based video creation tool, Kling AI. Kling AI has surpassed 12 million monthly active users and posted more than $20 million in revenue last month. Kuaishou raised its 2025 full-year revenue forecast for Kling AI to $140 million from $100 million. Alibaba unveiled a major update to its consumer AI application, the Qwen app. With the update, the Qwen app has expanded beyond a simple conversational interface into a system that autonomously performs end-to-end tasks.

• Baidu generative AI assistant surpasses 200 million monthly users • Kuaishou AI video tool Kling tops 12 million MAU; annual revenue forecast raised to $140 million • Alibaba updates Qwen app, steps up 'agentic AI' strategy

Startups are also moving aggressively.

DeepSeek is expected to unveil its next flagship AI model, V4, in February, reports say. In tests run by DeepSeek staff based on internal benchmarks, V4 outperformed existing models such as Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's GPT series in coding capabilities.

• DeepSeek's next AI model V4 seen imminent, setting stage for fierce competition in coding AI

Alibaba-backed AI startup Moonshot AI raised its valuation to $4.8 billion in a new funding round. Moonshot AI has drawn attention for its chatbot Kimi. Startups competing with Moonshot AI, Z.ai and Minibox, are seeking to secure funds and expand through listings on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Minimax unveiled its M2.1 model and strengthened its capabilities for multiple programming languages and practical use at work.

• China AI startup Moonshot AI nears new funding at $4.8 billion valuation • China AI startup Z.ai to pursue Hong Kong IPO in January, targeting $560 million raise • Minimax launches M2.1 AI model with multi-language programming support

Chinese IT companies have also entered competition in AI-based 'agentic commerce'. Big tech firms including Alibaba and ByteDance are upgrading chatbots from simple conversation tools into commerce agents capable of shopping and payments.

• China big tech joins race in 'agentic AI commerce'

A government-led programme to develop a homegrown foundation model has entered a new phase. According to a government announcement, a first-round evaluation of 5 shortlisted teams advanced LGAI Research Institute, SK Telecom and Upstage to the second stage. NC AI and Naver Cloud were eliminated. NC AI failed to clear the benchmark threshold, and Naver Cloud did not meet the originality standard presented by the government and was dropped in the first-round evaluation.

The Ministry of Science and ICT had initially planned to select 4 companies in the first-round evaluation, but 2 were eliminated unexpectedly. It plans to select 1 additional team as soon as possible. As a result, industry moves toward an additional call for proposals are taking shape. Motif Technologies and Trillion Labs have also entered the race.

• 'Selecting 1 more elite team for sovereign foundation model drive reflects project purpose, not a losers' bracket,' • Motif Technologies to join additional call for proposals • Trillion Labs to join additional call for proposals, saying it implemented architecture in-house • 'From scratch' dispute that shook the programme emerges as key yardstick again in second-stage evaluation • Government to restart programme through additional call for proposals, reshaping the field

Moves by tech companies at home and abroad to develop or use AI directly continued this week as well.

OpenAI is developing an AI-based device with a form factor similar to Apple's AirPods and is targeting a launch in the second half of 2026. OpenAI's annualised recurring revenue surpassed $20 billion last year, and its data centre capacity expanded to 1.9 gigawatts.

• OpenAI hardware to appear in second half, set to clash with Apple's AirPods • OpenAI revenue tops $20 billion last year, with cost cuts a task

Google is seeing results in expanding chatbot users and in sales of application programming interfaces to outside companies and developers, backed by its latest Gemini AI model with sharply enhanced performance. API calls, meaning requests sent to the Gemini API, rose to 85 billion in August from 35 billion in March last year, when the Gemini 2.5 model was first unveiled. Google is expanding access to its AI-based video creation tool Flow. Flow was previously available only to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers, but it is now available to Business, Enterprise and Education Workspace users as well.

• Google AI model API sales surge on Gemini effect, spotlight on fourth-quarter results • Google opens AI video creation tool Flow to Workspace users

Naver and the Bank of Korea have completed building a dedicated generative AI service specialised in finance and economics, called BOKI (Bank Of Korea Intelligence), and will begin full-scale operations. It is said to be the first case among central banks worldwide to build its own AI platform and apply it at the operational stage.

• Team Naver, Bank of Korea build dedicated AI platform, first among central banks worldwide

LG CNS is accelerating its push into the pharma and biotech AX market after signing a contract for a drug development-related project promoted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and completing an automated product quality evaluation system for Chong Kun Dang. Popup Studio, which is building development infrastructure and a community for vibecoders, launched an AI-native development framework, BKIT (Bkamp Vibecoding Kit). Konan Technology launched a new model of Konan LLM, combining its own search engine with MCP tools and specialising in implementing agentic AI. AI infrastructure company Vessel AI will jointly develop a grid-aware MLOps solution with U.S. data centre energy orchestration platform company PADO AI to operate AI workloads by reflecting power grid and energy conditions in real time.

• LG CNS expands pharma and biotech AX, discloses cases with Health Ministry and Chong Kun Dang • Popup Studio officially launches AI-native development framework BKIT • Konan Technology unveils new Konan LLM model with strengthened agentic AI • Vessel AI to develop power-efficiency AI orchestration technology with U.S. PADO AI

ServiceNow signed a three-year agreement with OpenAI as part of efforts to strengthen its AI software stack. Through the agreement, ServiceNow plans to integrate GPT-5.2 into its enterprise workflow platform. It is also developing AI voice technology. Enterprise content management company Box unveiled Box Extract, which automatically analyses hidden insights in documents to support corporate decision-making. Industrial cybersecurity company Nozomi Networks introduced Vantage IQ, an AI assistant for OT and IoT security experts. Enterprise generative AI solutions company Psionic AI signed a strategic partnership with Dongkuk Systems, a B2B IT services firm affiliated with the Dongkuk Steel Group.

• ServiceNow signs three-year contract with OpenAI to strengthen AI software stack • Box unveils agentic AI data extraction feature to analyse document data • Nozomi Networks launches Vantage IQ, AI assistant specialised in OT and IoT security • Psionic AI partners with Dongkuk Systems to expand enterprise AI business

Douzone Bizon officially launched ONE AI Tax Law Assistant to maximise the efficiency of tax work. Mokoflex, which operates an integrated store operations and management solution, launched an AI-based automatic store review generation service called Our Store Smart Review. Gabia introduced an AI Domain Recommendation Service that applies generative AI technology. Grepp, which operates AI-based online coding test platform Monito, launched AI Assist to directly assess developers' AI collaboration capabilities.

• 'From exploring statutes to searching precedents' - Douzone Bizon launches ONE AI Tax Law Assistant • Mokoflex launches AI review generation service Our Store Smart Review • Gabia opens AI Domain Recommendation Service • Grepp launches AI Assist to directly assess developers' AI collaboration capabilities

AI inference platform company Baseten raised $300 million in new funding at a $5 billion valuation. The funding round was led by IVP and Alphabet's growth investment fund CapitalG, and Nvidia made a sole investment of $150 million, nearly half the amount. Emergent, an Indian startup developing an AI-based vibecoding platform, raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Khosla Ventures. AI app hosting platform Runpod is showing rapid growth, posting an annual revenue run rate of $120 million. AI coding startup Replit unveiled a function that allows users to develop mobile apps with natural language input only and upload them to Apple's App Store.

• Nvidia invests $150 million in Baseten as inference AI expansion gains traction • Indian vibecoding startup Emergent raises $70 million led by SoftBank and others • AI cloud Runpod enters $120 million annual revenue track, targeting developers • Coding AI startup Replit launches mobile app development feature through App Store submission

Many forecast that AI will replace much of what humans do, but there is also a view that at least for now it will not. A recent survey by enterprise software company Workday shows that people still spend a lot of time dealing with issues arising from the use of AI.

• [Tech Inside] Is AI increasing work? The paradox of AI productivity

Revenue at AI-native companies that sell AI models or services is rising sharply, but concentration among a small number of companies is also becoming more pronounced.

• AI revenue concentration deepens as firms seek to diversify business models beyond subscriptions