Chinese AI firms generate $10.7 billion revenue, lagging US competitors by tenfold

Seven leading Chinese artificial intelligence developers generated an estimated US$10.7 billion in annual recurring revenue between March and August, a figure that represents just a tenth of the combined revenue for OpenAI and Anthropic, which exceeded US$100 billion, according to a report published by US-based research firm Rhodium Group.

The study examined DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, Z.ai, MiniMax, Alibaba Group Holding, ByteDance and Kuaishou Technology, which operates the Kling AI video generator. The revenue disparity persists despite sustained investor enthusiasm for Chinese AI ventures, Rhodium Group found.

ByteDance leads Chinese AI revenue

ByteDance recorded the highest annual recurring revenue among the Chinese group at US$4 billion as of July. Alibaba followed with US$2.4 billion in August.

The Rhodium analysis underscores the substantial gap between Chinese AI model developers and their American counterparts, even as valuations in China's artificial intelligence sector remain elevated. The findings cover revenue performance across a six-month window during a period of rapid development in the generative AI market.

Source: South China Morning Post