BEIJING — China's technology titans are leveraging the Chinese New Year holiday season to secure users for their intelligent assistants, betting that 2026 will be the year when "AI agents" evolve from novelties into indispensable daily tools.

This high-stakes race, not only for user attention but also for control over the next-generation artificial intelligence gateway, was ignited by their digital cash incentives.

Tencent kicked off a 1-billion-yuan ($144.05 million) giveaway on Sunday, offering users a chance to win up to 10,000 yuan through its AI-enabled Yuanbao app. That same day, at least 16 users claimed the top prize, propelling the app, powered by AI models such as DeepSeek, to first place in the free Chinese app rankings on Apple's App Store.

Not to be outdone, Alibaba's flagship AI product Qwen followed on Monday, poised to offer a 3-billion-yuan "festival treat", starting from Feb 6, to subsidize commodities, dining, travel and entertainment bookings, all within a unified, AI-powered shopping ecosystem. This big tech's holiday-season generosity also involves directing traffic to its dedicated healthcare AI app, named Ant Afu.

Two other heavyweight rivals, ByteDance and Baidu, meanwhile, are running promotional campaigns tied to the widely-watched holiday television galas.

This marketing blitz echoes the country's fierce battle for digital payment gateways over a decade ago. Only this time, the prize is the next game-changer, one expected to be capable of end-to-end task execution, thus making AI the primary portal for everything from ordering coffee to booking holidays.

A recent industry report sees 2026 as a key strategic juncture for China's internet giants, amid growing consumer AI investment and fierce competition to create all-encompassing AI gateways.

"On-device AI agents could make traditional apps gradually fade into the background," said Chen Jianguang, a partner at EY Greater China. He explained that phone-based AI agents will automate tasks based on user data with no app opening required.

In Qwen's chatbot, for example, a simple message like "I want to watch a movie nearby" automatically handles cinema recommendations, booking and payment via Taopiaopiao and Alipay, all within one interface.

"Once an operating-system-level AI agent gains control over traffic distribution, it will become the new gatekeeper of user access," said Sang Jitao, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University.

This competition comes amid dual powerful dynamics: the government's drive to expand domestic consumption and the AI industry's quest for viable commercial pathways.

China's vast digital population is fueling this economic sector with remarkable potential. The country's generative AI user base had reached 515 million by June 2025, doubling in just six months, while its mobile AI users stood at 720 million by October last year.

"Our AI market is projected to grow at a rate exceeding 30 percent in 2026," said Liu Lichao, an AI analyst at CCID Consulting under China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Yet, as DeepSeek's sudden rise a year ago made clear, securing sustainable corporate advantage requires more than just subsidizing user growth alone. A broader industry truth is that long-term success hinges on a decisive shift toward genuine innovation and delivering tangible gains in efficiency.

In January, leading Chinese AI developers unveiled a new wave of smarter models, ranging from Qwen to Kimi and DeepSeek. Rather than chasing top spots on leaderboards, the race has shifted to creating agents that truly understand context and solve real-life problems.

Chinese tech giants are starting to explore and sharpen their AI focuses: ByteDance's Doubao helps students with homework, Alibaba's Lingguang AI enables easy mini-program creation, and e-commerce platforms like JD.com are deploying digital avatars for live commerce.

Pony Ma, chairman and CEO of Tencent, noted that a one-size-fits-all "AI suite" may not be what users truly want, calling instead for an ecosystem designed around individual needs and privacy.

Now, the one-person company (OPC) model is rapidly emerging in China, fueled by the coding capabilities of large AI models and support from local governments, resulting in a greater diversity of products.

In this low-cost form of entrepreneurship, a solo founder uses AI tools to handle content creation, product operations and service delivery, succeeding by precisely identifying a niche need and delivering an effective solution.

"In 2026, AI will further advance from model innovation to real-world applications, driving a measurable increase in overall productivity," said Ma Beibei, a CCID researcher.

Xinhua