Chinese tech giant ByteDance has claimed the top spot with its apps CapCut and Doubao, surpassing even the popular ChatGPT. According to a report from industry research firm Unique Capital, ByteDance’s focus on generative AI (GenAI) is paying off as these apps led global downloads in July.
ByteDance’s CapCut and Doubao lead global downloads in July
CapCut, ByteDance’s video-editing app, saw an impressive 38.42 million downloads in July. Known as JianYing in China, CapCut has become a go-to tool for users on TikTok, Douyin, and Instagram, with 323 million monthly active users (MAUs) last month. Its GenAI features make video editing easier and more creative, driving its widespread popularity.
Meanwhile, Doubao, ByteDance’s chatbot launched just a year ago, also made a strong showing with 27.45 million downloads in July. This pushed Doubao ahead of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which had 19.81 million downloads during the same period. Doubao also reached 30.42 million MAUs, showing that it’s quickly becoming a major player in the chatbot market.
ByteDance’s rapid AI growth
The rise of CapCut and Doubao shows how fast ByteDance has grown in the AI field. Earlier this year, ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo pushed the company to strengthen its AI capabilities after ChatGPT’s success. Liang focused on hiring more AI experts, improving the company’s structure, and boosting research. These efforts have clearly paid off, as ByteDance now leads in the AI app market.
ByteDance isn’t stopping with CapCut and Doubao. In August, the company launched Jimeng, a text-to-video app, on Apple’s mainland App Store. This new app is part of ByteDance’s move into the growing market for Sora-style text-to-video technology.
In May, ByteDance also introduced a series of large language models called the Doubao LLM family. These models power a range of GenAI services and are priced competitively to challenge rivals in China’s AI market.
So, can ByteDance outpace OpenAI in the long run? We have to wait for the answer, but one thing is sure: the AI race heats up by the day.
All images are generated by Eray Eliaçık/Bing
