China Digital Digest Weekly: Exploring the Chinese Digital Landscape
- ClickInsights
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Hi folks, we are back with our weekly edition of China’s Digital Digest, wherein we bring you weekly updates on China’s digital space. The report takes a quick glance at China’s complex and rapidly evolving social media landscape by providing updates on the latest happenings across the social media industry. Here are the major highlights of the report.
1. Meta to Acquire Chinese AI Startup Manus
Meta is set to acquire Chinese artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the company steps up efforts to expand the use of advanced AI across its platforms.
Earlier this year, Manus launched an AI agent and said it outperformed OpenAI’s DeepResearch. Manus is part of a group of Chinese technology firms that develops a general-purpose AI agent designed to function like a digital employee, carrying out tasks such as research and automation with minimal instructions. Meta says it’ll keep Manus running independently and weave the startup’s AI agents into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, where Meta’s own chatbot, Meta AI, is already available to users.
2. China’s Kuaishou Hit by Breach as Explicit Content Floods Live-Streaming Rooms
Short-video platform Kuaishou Technology reported a major cyberattack to the police after a breach allowed explicit content to flood high-traffic live rooms for more than an hour.
Kuaishou’s live-streaming services were thrown into chaos at around 10pm when recommended feeds were inundated with explicit material, according to news website Sina. Viewership in some compromised rooms surged past 50,000 before the platform launched an emergency response. Kuaishou said that the cyberattack was carried out by “black and grey industries” – an underground ecosystem of illegal and legally ambiguous activities, ranging from cybercrime to bot-driven fraud.
3. ByteDance’s Valuation Hits US$500 Billion
ByteDance, owner of TikTok, has seen its valuation surge to US$500 billion on the private market, up sharply from US$400 billion earlier this year.
The US$500 billion figure would mark a record for the short video and artificial intelligence giant. ByteDance’s valuation previously approached US$400 billion in April 2021, when the company considered a public listing for Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese sibling app. Weeks later, the company said it had no immediate plans to go public. The valuation, which since then dropped, returned to US$400 billion in the second quarter this year as the company worked on the US deal and made progress in AI. It rose further when a Chinese investment firm bought ByteDance shares at a valuation of US$480 billion, reflecting strong investor interest.
4. ByteDance’s Doubao App Surpasses 100 Million Daily Active Users
ByteDance’s AI application Doubao has surpassed 100 million daily active users (DAU), becoming another flagship app in ByteDance’s portfolio to cross the 100-million-user milestone.
Doubao officially launched in August 2023, earlier than domestic peers such as Kimi and Tencent Yuanbao. Insiders note that among ByteDance’s apps exceeding 100 million DAU, Doubao has achieved its growth with the lowest marketing spending. The app is also expanding rapidly into multiple scenarios such as AI+hardware and AI+consumer applications, and is set to participate in CCTV's Spring Festival Gala interactive collaboration in 2026.
5. ByteDance’s Overseas AI Assistant Dola Surpasses 10 Million Daily Active Users
ByteDance has revealed that its overseas AI assistant, Dola, has surpassed 10 million daily active users. Positioned on Google Play as an “all-in-one assistant for writing, thinking, and creativity,” the app offers conversational Q&A, writing support, translation, and image generation.
Dola was originally launched as Cici in August 2023, targeting emerging markets such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and parts of Latin America. Its interface closely mirrored ByteDance’s domestic AI assistant, Doubao, with only minor visual differences. The app was officially rebranded as Dola by the end of 2025.
6. Alibaba Open-Sources Fun-Audio-Chat, a New End-to-End Voice Interaction Model
Alibaba has unveiled the open-source release of Fun-Audio-Chat, a next-generation end-to-end speech interaction model, the Tongyi large model team announced.
The release includes 8-billion-parameter model weights, inference code, and comprehensive examples for Function Call integration, allowing developers to link the model with external tools and services. Built for more natural and seamless voice interactions, Fun-Audio-Chat uses an end-to-end architecture to improve both the understanding and generation of continuous speech.
7. Tencent AI Lab Deputy Director Yu Dong Reportedly Departs
According to multiple independent sources cited by AI Emergence, Yu Dong, Deputy Director and Distinguished Scientist at Tencent AI Lab, has recently left Tencent for personal career development reasons. Tencent has not issued an official response.
Yu Dong is a leading expert in speech processing and deep learning. He joined Tencent in 2017 and previously served as Deputy Director of Tencent AI Lab and Chief Scientist at Tencent YouTu Lab. He is among the early researchers who successfully applied deep learning to speech recognition and played a key role in advancing speech, NLP, and digital human technologies within Tencent.
8. Burglary of JD.com Warehouse In France Prompts Investigation, Speculation
JD.com has said a warehouse operated by the company in the Paris region was targeted by a professional theft ring in the early hours of Dec. 22 local time.
More than 50,000 consumer electronics devices — including smartphones, computers, tablets and headphones — were reportedly stolen, with losses estimated at around 37 million euros. JD.com said the warehouse has now resumed normal operations, and the “major loss figures” reported by some sources differ from the actual situation. Currently, local police have opened an investigation, and the case remains under further inquiry.
Wrapping Up
The vast and diverse nature of the Chinese Social Media space makes it incredibly challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments taking place. However, China’s Digital Digest brings you all the latest updates from there to keep you abreast of all the evolving trends.
To delve deeper into the findings of our latest report, click here.