Chinese AI players commit billions of yuan in campaign to win users during holiday break

As the nation gets ready to ring in the Year of the Horse, a number of Chinese artificial intelligence companies are introducing new technology and aggressively investing in promotions. Billions of yuan are being thrown at campaigns to win over users during the longer holiday break.

The effort comes as China’s AI business continues to heat up following the January debut of DeepSeek’s R1 model, which rocked up markets worldwide and started off more heated competition between domestic players.

As the lunar year comes to an end, several companies are getting ready to introduce updated technologies.

New models target coding and reasoning improvements

DeepSeek plans to introduce its next version, called V4, around mid-February, according to reporting by The Information. The new release will have improved coding features.

Two other companies that recently started trading on Hong Kong’s stock exchange are also getting ready to roll out updates. Zhipu AI, which operates under the name Z.ai outside China, will launch GLM-5 within the next two weeks, sources with knowledge of the plans said. That timeline puts the release before February 15, when Lunar New Year festivities kick off.

The Beijing-based company’s fifth-generation model is expected to show major gains across multiple areas, including creative writing, coding, reasoning, and the ability to work as an agent, two sources said. Industry analysts suggest these “agentic” capabilities are a major frontier for the domestic market this year.

Shanghai-based MiniMax is set to release M2.2 before the holiday as well, the sources said. This update represents a smaller step forward from its M2.1 version and will focus mainly on better coding performance. The sources asked not to be named because they were not allowed to discuss the information publicly.

Zhipu AI did not respond to questions about its plans. MiniMax said it would not comment.

Fighting for users during holiday season

Chinese IT companies have a history of leveraging the Lunar New Year period as a significant moment to gain clients. During the holiday, hundreds of millions of people travel to see relatives and use their phones and apps more.

The public holiday this year is longer than most previous years, lasting nine days beginning on February 15. This extended break provides a massive window for user engagement.

The most notable example of a holiday marketing effort came in 2015, when Tencent utilized its WeChat messaging platform to send out digital red envelopes. This action enabled its WeChat Pay service to overtake Alipay, which at the time was the unchallenged leader in mobile payments.

Now, AI companies are trying a similar approach. Alibaba said Monday it will put 3 billion yuan, which equals about $431 million, into efforts to bring users to its Qwen AI application during the holiday. That amount is three times what two competitors had promised to spend earlier.

The company’s campaign begins February 6 and will offer incentives for meals, drinks, entertainment, and leisure activities, with “large red envelopes distributed continuously,” according to its statement. Alibaba did not say whether the rewards would be actual cash or coupons that can be used on its sites, like the Taobao shopping platform.

Tencent and Baidu announced their own spending plans late last month. Tencent said it would spend 1 billion yuan on promotions for its Yuanbao chatbot, while Baidu committed 500 million yuan for similar efforts.

Tencent’s program starts Sunday. People who want to participate need to update the app to the newest version to get digital red envelopes that can be transferred to their WeChat wallets. Users can also send links to others who can claim cash rewards.

The competing campaigns show how seriously major Chinese tech firms are taking the race to dominate the AI market, using both technical improvements and aggressive consumer promotions to gain an edge in this rapidly evolving sector.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.