Tencent's AI Chatbot Yuanbao Overtakes Rivals to Top China's iOS App Store

Tencent Holdings, a leading Chinese tech conglomerate, is seeing its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Yuanbao, surge in popularity within China's competitive digital landscape. According to a recent report by the South China Morning Post, Yuanbao has become the most downloaded free application on China's iOS App Store, surpassing DeepSeek, which previously held the top spot.

This significant shift in user preference is attributed, in part, to Tencent's strategic decision earlier this year to integrate DeepSeek's R1 reasoning model into Yuanbao. Launched in May of last year, Yuanbao has quickly established itself as a major player, now ranking ahead of DeepSeek (currently second) and ByteDance's Doubao (in fourth place). The only app surpassing Doubao in the rankings is China's official taxation application, highlighting the intense competition within the Chinese tech sector.

Yuanbao's rise coincides with Tencent's broader strategy to incorporate DeepSeek's technology, offering users a compelling complement to its own Hunyuan AI model. This development has also provided a boost to Tencent's market performance, with Hong Kong-listed shares increasing by 1.78% to HK$491.80.

Further fueling Yuanbao's adoption is the recent introduction of a direct download button within WeChat, Tencent's ubiquitous social media platform boasting a massive user base of approximately 1.3 billion. This seamless integration provides easy access to the AI chatbot for WeChat's vast audience.

The chatbot's rapid adoption is evident in its soaring daily active user (DAU) numbers. By late February, Yuanbao's DAU had spiked to 3 million, a dramatic increase from its initial user base, which was only in the hundreds of thousands. Li Bangzhu of AIcpb.com notes that this data reflects a growing trend in China towards embracing AI-driven solutions in both personal and professional contexts.

Looking at the broader industry, IndexBox reports that the global trend of integrating advanced AI models into consumer applications is expected to continue driving innovation and competition among leading technology firms. Tencent's Yuanbao's success is a prime example of this trend in action.