ByteDance’s TikTok Playbook Is Winning Consumer AI

ByteDance Ltd. is best known abroad as the embattled parent of TikTok. At home, though, it has quietly seized the crown for China’s top consumer artificial intelligence app while bucking all the trends — a feat that offers lessons in the global tech race.

While generative AI is still attempting to prove its value and productivity benefits to enterprises, people worldwide have already embraced it for everything from information gathering to entertainment. Cracking the consumer market is also proving to offer one of the clearest paths to profitability in a cash-hungry sector: By some estimates, 70% of OpenAI’s revenue comes from individuals paying for ChatGPT subscriptions.