At the start of 2026, the competitive pattern of user scale in China’s AI track has officially taken shape. According to the latest reports and publicly available data compiled by 36Kr, Baidu’s Wenxin Assistant has exceeded 200 million monthly active users (MAU), far surpassing competitors such as ByteDance’s Doubao and Alibaba’s Qianwen, and firmly holding the top position in user scale on China’s AI track. This marks that in the “three-way competition” pattern of China’s AI assistant sector, Wenxin Assistant has seized the leading position with absolute user advantages and become the most popular AI intelligent assistant among domestic users.

I. Core Data Released: Wenxin Assistant Tops the List with 200 Million MAU, Widening the Competitive Gap

In mid-to-late January 2026, 36Kr released a number of industry reports one after another, disclosing the latest user data of major domestic AI assistants. Among them, Wenxin Assistant’s user scale performed particularly prominently, becoming the core focus of the industry.

1. Key Data: Leading with 200 Million MAU, Far Surpassing Competitors

According to industry monitoring data cited by 36Kr and information disclosed by Baidu officially, as of January 20, 2026, Wenxin Assistant’s monthly active users have officially exceeded 200 million, making it the first AI assistant product in China with MAU entering the 200 million level. In comparison, ByteDance’s Doubao had about 172 million MAU in the same period, and Alibaba’s Qianwen just exceeded 100 million MAU. With a MAU gap of nearly 30 million, Wenxin Assistant clearly holds the top position in user scale on China’s AI track[superscript:3].

In terms of user growth rhythm, Wenxin Assistant’s user accumulation speed is also impressive. Compared with the mobile AI assistant user data disclosed by QuestMobile in September 2025, Wenxin Assistant already had 34.26 million PC-end users at that time. After four months of iteration and promotion, its full-end users have achieved leapfrog growth, with MAU doubling and breaking through, showing strong user appeal.

2. Data Verification: Cross-Validation by Multiple Sources, Stable User Advantages

In addition to the core reports from 36Kr, data from multiple industry institutions have also confirmed Wenxin Assistant’s leading user position. Among them, Hong Kong stock market information shows that Baidu Group-SW’s stock price rose more than 4% in the afternoon due to the news that Wenxin Assistant’s MAU exceeded 200 million, which indirectly reflects the market’s recognition of its user scale advantages. Another in-depth industry analysis report points out that Wenxin Assistant’s 200 million MAU is not only the highest in China’s AI track, but also ranks 8th in the world and 1st in China in the global authoritative large model arena LMarena. While leading in technological strength, it has also achieved synchronous leadership in user scale.

II. Core Drivers of Leadership: Three Key Supports for Wenxin Assistant’s Top User Scale

36Kr analyzed in its report that Wenxin Assistant’s achievement of topping the user scale is not accidental, but the result of the joint efforts of three core advantages: technological foundation, ecological coordination and service experience. Especially in ecological openness and scenario coverage, it has formed unique competitiveness different from competitors.

1. Technological Foundation: Supported by Native Multimodal Large Model, Building User Trust

Wenxin Assistant’s core competitiveness comes from the technical support of Baidu’s self-developed Wenxin Large Model. On January 22, Baidu officially released the Wenxin 5.0 native multimodal large model, which has the ability to input and output multimodal information such as text, images, audio and video. It has achieved in-depth multimodal integration from the initial stage of training, and the semantics and vision of the output content are highly unified[superscript:4].

Compared with similar competitors, relying on the Wenxin Large Model, Wenxin Assistant has integrated 550 billion structured knowledge, and its error rate in serious scenarios such as official documents and teaching plans is more than 30% lower than that of competitors, with significant advantages in factual accuracy. This has also become the core reason for attracting various types of users such as government affairs, universities and enterprises, further promoting the steady growth of user scale.

2. Ecological Coordination: Dual-Wheel Drive of Openness + Own Ecosystem, Expanding User Reach Scenarios

Different from the development model of competitors relying on their own ecosystems, Wenxin Assistant adopts a dual-wheel strategy of “in-depth binding of own ecosystem + opening of third-party ecosystem”, which greatly expands user reach scenarios. 36Kr reported that Wenxin Assistant has long been connected with Baidu’s core own applications such as Baidu Search, Netdisk and Maps, and has achieved natural user conversion and retention with the help of Baidu Search, a high-frequency entrance[superscript:6].

At the same time, Wenxin Assistant opened the MCP (Model Context Protocol) to third-party applications very early, which can directly call high-quality third-party services in multiple fields such as JD.com, Meituan, Ctrip and Dianping, fully covering high-frequency life scenarios such as e-commerce, local life, tourism and finance, forming a complete closed loop of “search + service”. This allows users to complete various tasks without switching apps, greatly improving user stickiness and usage frequency[superscript:6].

3. Service Experience: Full-Scenario Adaptation, Covering Various User Needs

The leading user scale is ultimately supported by high-quality service experience. Wenxin Assistant not only covers the daily dialogue, multimodal creation, information query and other needs of C-end individual users, but also deeply layouts B-end enterprise services. It serves more than 1 million enterprises through Baidu Intelligent Cloud, supports private deployment and industry fine-tuning, surpassing the simple tool attribute and becoming an important entrance for enterprise services.

In addition, Wenxin Assistant has achieved multi-end adaptation such as PC, mobile and mini programs. In September 2025, its PC-end users reached 34.26 million, far exceeding Doubao’s 25.72 million in the same period. The multi-end collaborative service model further meets the user needs in different scenarios and promotes the comprehensive growth of user scale.

III. Industry Pattern: “Three-Way Competition” Continues, Wenxin’s Leading Advantage is Prominent

36Kr analyzed that with Wenxin Assistant’s MAU exceeding 200 million, the “three-way competition” pattern in China’s AI assistant track has been officially stabilized. Baidu Wenxin, ByteDance Doubao and Alibaba Qianwen, the three major players, occupy the core share of the industry, but Wenxin Assistant’s leading user advantage has gradually widened, and the focus of industry competition is shifting from “user acquisition” to “user value deepening”.

1. Competitor Comparison: Each Has Its Focus, Wenxin’s User Advantage is Significant

From the perspective of the development paths of the three major core players, ByteDance’s Doubao relies on its own content ecosystem such as Douyin and Toutiao, and has quickly accumulated users with efficient product iteration and traffic guidance, especially with high penetration among light AI users. At present, its daily active users (DAU) have exceeded 100 million, but its MAU is still behind Wenxin Assistant[superscript:6]; Alibaba’s Qianwen is deeply bound to Alibaba’s ecosystem such as Taobao, Alipay and Fliggy, focusing on the “AI + transaction” closed loop, and has launched more than 400 AI service functions. Its C-end MAU exceeded 100 million within two months of its launch, showing a strong development momentum, but there is still a gap in user scale compared with Wenxin Assistant[superscript:3].

Compared with the two, Wenxin Assistant’s advantage lies in the comprehensive balance of “technology + ecology + service”. It not only has leading multimodal technology, but also achieves full scenario coverage through an open ecosystem, while taking into account both C-end and B-end user needs. This enables it to lead in user scale and continuously consolidate its leading position.

2. Industry Impact: User Leadership Forces Industry Upgrade, Focusing on Value Deepening

Wenxin Assistant’s topping the user scale not only highlights its own core competitiveness, but also has a profound impact on the development of China’s AI track. 36Kr cited a QuestMobile report pointing out that in 2025, China’s AI industry has shifted from the fanaticism of the “hundred-model war” to a pragmatic development stage of “lower landing cost and faster speed”, and the competition for user scale has gradually turned to the deepening of user value.

Wenxin Assistant’s leadership will force similar competitors to accelerate technological iteration and ecological layout, further promoting the transformation of AI assistants from “chat tools” to “full-scenario intelligent service entrances”. At the same time, it will also promote the entire AI track to shift from “traffic competition” to “service upgrade”, allowing AI technology to truly land in various life and work scenarios and benefit more users.

IV. Future Outlook: Wenxin Assistant Consolidates Its Leading Position, Industry Competition Turns to Differentiation

Combined with 36Kr’s industry forecast and Wenxin Assistant’s development trends, Wenxin Assistant will continue to consolidate its user scale advantages in the future, while focusing on technological optimization and service upgrading. The competition in China’s AI track will gradually turn to differentiated development, forming a pattern of “leading by the top and blooming in a hundred flowers”.

For Wenxin Assistant, it will continue to promote the technological iteration of the Wenxin Large Model, optimize the multimodal interaction experience, further expand the open ecosystem, access more third-party services, and deepen the closed-loop advantage of “search + service”. In addition, its 500 million cash red envelope activity and its identity as the chief AI partner of Beijing TV Spring Festival Gala will further expand its brand influence and promote the continuous growth of user scale.

For the entire industry, with Wenxin Assistant’s leadership, similar competitors will gradually find their own differentiated positioning. Doubao will continue to rely on the advantages of the content ecosystem to deepen in light entertainment and information query scenarios; Qianwen will focus on the e-commerce and life service closed loop to strengthen its “AI + transaction” capabilities; while small and medium-sized players will focus on vertical fields to achieve “small but beautiful” development, jointly promoting the high-quality development of China’s AI track.

Conclusion: Topping the User Scale, Wenxin Assistant Leads AI Services into a New Stage

A series of reports and industry data from 36Kr clearly show that Wenxin Assistant’s topping the user scale on China’s AI track with 200 million MAU is not accidental, but the inevitable result of the joint efforts of three major advantages: technology, ecology and service. This achievement not only marks that Wenxin Assistant has become the leader in China’s AI assistant sector, but also means that China’s AI industry has entered a new stage of large-scale services from technological competition.

In the future, with the continuous iteration of technology and the continuous improvement of the ecosystem, Wenxin Assistant is expected to continue to consolidate its leading position, promote the landing of AI technology in more scenarios, and at the same time drive the entire AI track to focus on user value and achieve higher-quality development, making AI truly a core force empowering life and helping industrial upgrading.

Source: Compiled from relevant industry reports and public data of 36Kr