The largest "AI Red Packet War" in the history of China's internet came to an end on the 2026 Spring Festival. With major players such as ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba distributing a total of 8 billion yuan in red packets and benefits, AI applications once dominated the rankings in app stores. However, as the long holiday ended and the red packet rain stopped, these AI assistants are now facing a real and tough "user retention test."

Spring Festival Review: The "Land Grab" by AI Giants

In the past lunar month, various manufacturers used all their tricks to attract new users:

ByteDance (Douyin): Deeply collaborated with CCTV's Spring Festival Gala, using the top-tier traffic pool to quickly achieve widespread user adoption.

Tencent (Yuanbao): Introduced a "red packet reward" strategy, attracting a large number of new users through social chain referrals.

Alibaba (Tongyi Qianwen): Played the "free purchase" card, using AI assistants to provide real consumption benefits, trying to deeply integrate AI into users' daily lives.

Core Challenge: "Retention" Anxiety After the Red Packet Effect Fades

Although the interaction volume of AI applications reached an all-time high on New Year's Eve, an industry analysis shared by Qichacha pointed out that data driven by marketing often "comes fast and goes fast":

User Habits: Users attracted by red packets tend to be random, and preventing them from "leaving after collecting the red packet" has become the primary challenge.

Scenario Gap: If AI applications cannot find irreplaceable "essential" scenarios in socializing, work, or entertainment, they are likely to be uninstalled.

Breaking Through: From Traffic Marketing to Ecological Cultivation

Companies have started to adjust their strategies, aiming to enhance user engagement:

Social Exploration: Tencent Yuanbao is trying to introduce stronger social attributes, using social relationships to retain users.

Lifestyle Integration: Ali Qianwen plans to integrate AI assistants more deeply into daily consumption scenarios such as shopping and traveling, achieving "seamless" retention.

Industry Observation:

This 8 billion yuan gamble marks that the competition in the AI industry has officially entered the "user operation" stage from the "technology promotion" phase. For traditional media like Beijing Radio and Television Station and internet giants, traffic is just an entry ticket, and the real competition lies in who can cultivate an AI ecosystem that users depend on first.