Will China pay for AI? ByteDance’s Doubao loses 6 million users after subscription plan

ByteDance risks throwing away its lead in China’s fierce market for consumer artificial intelligence consumer by monetising too early, according to analysts, after its flagship chatbot Doubao shed millions of users following a sneak peek at paid-subscription tiers. The assessment follows a 6.1 million drop in Doubao’s monthly active users (MAUs) in May – a rare slump for the app since its 2023 launch – after it teased its first-ever subscription options, according to data rel