With the conclusion of gaokao, China's college entrance exam, China's big tech corporations are moving in earnest to compete in artificial intelligence (AI)-based admissions counseling services. As competition among China's AI companies to secure the consumer market heats up, they appear to be jumping into a race to draw 12.9 million test takers and parents into their AI ecosystems.
According to Caixin, a Chinese business outlet, on the 11th, China's big tech with AI agents have recently rolled out AI-based college application support services one after another. Tencent unveiled its AI admissions counseling agent "Yuanbao Gaokaotong" on the 5th, just before gaokao, kicking off the race, followed by Alibaba's AI assistant "Qianwen," which on the 10th introduced the "Qianwen gaokao application expert." Baidu, the largest search engine, also added an "AI application report" feature to its browser search screen and is offering admissions counseling through its AI assistant "Wenxin." Last year, Alibaba was first in the industry to introduce the product, providing a total of 13 million consultations.
These products offer customized admissions solutions based on each company's AI-assembled admissions data over the years, managing college application schedules, evaluating the suitability of a user's target universities and majors, and analyzing how to write applications. AI is providing, for free, admissions counseling that used to be offered at high prices by a small number of experts.
Alibaba told local media, "Currently, fewer than 5% of households in China use professional admissions consultants," adding, "Now AI agents can play a role in delivering expert-level counseling capabilities to more test takers."
Caixin said this competition goes beyond simple admissions services and is part of a race to secure the AI consumer market. Recently, China's AI corporations have focused on expanding agent ecosystems that connect to external services to secure user touchpoints. The goal is to become the first platform users turn to when seeking information, so that food delivery, transportation, travel, shopping, and other services are all handled within their own platforms.
In fact, WeChat, China's leading messenger, on the 8th announced plans to open its platform so developers can link external services to the WeChat AI ecosystem. Delivery app Meituan, travel apps Ctrip and Tongcheng, and ride-hailing app Didi joined as the first test corporations and are conducting internal tests. Alibaba also opened Qianwen to external agents and secured Luckin Coffee, KFC, and China Eastern Airlines as initial partners. Through this, users can receive services such as flight recommendations, nearby store searches, and menu recommendations.
According to QuestMobile, a Chinese market research firm, as of March this year the top AI apps in China by monthly active users (MAU) were ByteDance Ltd.'s Doubao, Qianwen, DeepSeek, and Yuanbao, in that order. According to the local industry, as of April, the average number of uses per person for AI apps in China was 91, and the average usage time was 180 minutes, both hitting a record high. Caixin said, "This means AI is becoming the first touchpoint in users' information-gathering process," adding, "AI adoption is also spreading rapidly in education."