The AI Entry Point Battle: How Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance Are Fighting for the Future of Internet Dominance

The race to control the AI entry point isn’t just about who has the best chatbot.

It’s about who controls the gateway to the next decade of internet traffic.

Right now, internet giants like Tencent (Tengxun 腾讯), Baidu (Baidu 百度), and Alibaba (Alibaba 阿里巴巴) are pouring billions of yuan into red envelope subsidies to accelerate their capture of AI entry points.

Every reward claimed, every interaction—these tech titans are essentially subsidizing the “Ask AI First” habit.

And whoever wins this war will hold the dominant hand in the internet ecosystem for the next decade.

The rapid evolution of AI technology has transformed the “AI Super Entry Point” from a theoretical concept into a very real battleground.

Major players like Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance (Zijie Tiaodong 字节跳动) are locked in a fierce struggle over this core hub of future internet traffic.

History rhymes here.

Look back at the PC era—Google and Yahoo fought for dominance.

Then came mobile—WeChat (Weixin 微信) and Douyin (Douyin 抖音) emerged as the undisputed kings.

The iron law of tech remains undefeated: “The entry point determines the ecosystem, and the ecosystem determines monetization.”

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How Three Giants Are Playing the AI Entry Point Game Differently

History teaches us the brutal cost of losing an entry point battle.

In the early days of mobile internet, Tencent’s WeChat used a late-mover advantage to leapfrog Xiaomi’s (Xiaomi 小米) Miliao (Miliao 米聊) and build a commercial empire worth hundreds of billions.

That lesson is seared into every executive’s brain now.

Today, the three major players have formed distinctly different strategic paths.

Alibaba’s Play: “Infrastructure + Action”

Alibaba isn’t just fighting for user attention.

It’s committing to deeply integrate its commercial ecosystem into Tongyi Qianwen (Tongyi Qianwen 通义千问).

The result? Tongyi Qianwen has broken past the boundaries of a traditional chatbot.

Within the app, users can:

• Order food
• Buy plane tickets
• Check social security information
• Book hotels

Recently, Alibaba launched the “Qianwen Spring Festival 30 Billion Free Order” campaign.

In just 9 hours, AI-generated orders surpassed the 10 million mark.

Alibaba’s “AI + E-commerce” ecosystem is showing early success.

But Alibaba didn’t stop there.

The company strengthened its core competitiveness at the underlying computing power level through a trinity of:

• Tongyi (its AI model)
• Alibaba Cloud (infrastructure)
• T-Head (Pingtouge 平头哥) (chip design)

ByteDance’s Play: “Traffic + Content”

ByteDance is playing a different game entirely.

The company adheres to “Traffic + Content” logic, leveraging Douyin’s massive global traffic pool.

Its AI product, Doubao (Doubao 豆包), has already surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAU).

And here’s the critical insight: Doubao isn’t just a tool.

It’s a content distribution hub.

ByteDance retains users through:

• Extreme interaction experiences
• Low-barrier access
• Using massive data to feedback into its models for continuous improvement

But ByteDance is getting bold.

The company is moving into hardware (phones, devices, etc.), attempting to intercept user intent at the base level by bypassing mobile operating systems.

If “system-level integration” succeeds, it could significantly diminish the value of traditional apps.

Result: ByteDance becomes an ecosystem hegemon with a “software + hardware” dual-line layout.

Tencent’s Play: “Social Penetration + Late-Mover Strike”

Tencent is taking a different approach—one that leverages its existing power.

The company recognizes that building a new independent super-app is expensive and risky.

So instead, it’s mining its mature super-entry point: WeChat.

Recently, Tencent invested ¥1 billion RMB ($139 million USD) in cash red envelope subsidies.

Using features like “Yuanbao Drops,” the company is triggering viral distribution within the WeChat ecosystem.

This is an active exploration of embedding AI deeply into social relationship chains.

The big question investors are watching: Will Tencent organically integrate AI capabilities into:

• WeChat
• QQ
• Tencent Meeting
• Tencent Docs

If yes, Tencent could defend its existing mobile internet dominance.

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The Current AI Entry Point Scorecard

So who’s winning right now?

According to Analysys (Yiguang 易观) data as of late January, the standings are:

1st Place: ByteDance’s Doubao

• Over 200 million MAU
• Dominant position in AI applications

2nd Place: Tencent’s Yuanbao (Yuanbao 元宝)

• 91.13 million MAU
• Growing through WeChat integration

3rd Place: Alibaba’s Qianwen

• 86.17 million MAU
• Leading in commercial conversion

Currently, all three have formed a tripartite confrontation—and the battlefield is far from decided.

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The Real Contest: The “Intent Economy”

Industry insiders know something important here.

The essence of this war isn’t about who has the largest AI model or the most parameters.

It’s a contest for the “Intent Economy.”

The future winner will be the one with the most complete ecosystem capable of converting:

“Dialogue → Service Delivery”

Through the shortest possible path.

Currently:

• Alibaba holds a slight lead in the commercial closed-loop (converting clicks to purchases)
• ByteDance has the advantage in user reach (getting users in the first place)
• Tencent has the deepest social relationships (highest stickiness and trust)

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Investment Angle: Finding the “Shadow Stocks”

Here’s the question every investor is asking: How do I profit from this battle?

You probably can’t buy shares in Tencent, Alibaba, or ByteDance directly if you’re in the US.

But there’s another play: the “shadow stocks”—companies that are backed by or deeply connected to these giants.

Tencent’s Investment Arm

Tencent primarily invests through Linzhi Tencent Technology Co., Ltd. (Linzhi Tengxun Keji Youxian Gongsi 林芝腾讯科技有限公司).

Corporate records show that Pony Ma (Ma Huateng 马化腾) is the actual controller of this entity.

In the A-share market, 11 companies list “Tencent” among their top ten tradable shareholders.

From a market value perspective, two standouts are:

• China Unicom (Zhongguo Liantong 中国联通) — exceeds ¥100 billion RMB ($13.9 billion USD)
• Century Huatong (Shiji Huatong 世纪华通) — exceeds ¥100 billion RMB ($13.9 billion USD)

Alibaba’s A-Share Footprint

Alibaba’s layout in the A-share market includes 11 companies with “Alibaba” or “Taobao” in their top shareholder lists.

This means if you’re looking for Alibaba exposure, you have multiple entry points across different sectors.

ByteDance’s Hidden Investments

ByteDance holds stakes in PalmRead Technology (Zhangyue Keji 掌阅科技) via Beijing Quantum Leap Technology (Beijing Liangzi Yuedong Keji Youxian Gongsi 北京量子跃动科技有限公司).

Baidu’s Moves

Baidu holds stakes in Yusys Technologies (Yuxin Keji 宇信科技) through Baidu (China) Co., Ltd.

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The Infrastructure Play: Computing Power Is the New Oil

While everyone’s watching the AI chatbots, something else is happening behind the scenes.

A research report from Guosen Securities (Guosen Zhengquan 国信证券) suggests that the expectation of “AI Agents accelerating scenario landing” has become a market hotspot.

Here’s what that means: As AI models get deployed into real-world applications, they need computing resources.

Lots of them.

And right now, computing resources aren’t just an arms race—they’re increasingly becoming a “seller’s market” during AI application testing.

Translation for investors: The computing power chain is expected to return as a main line for tech investment, supported by strong earnings.

According to DataBao (Shujubao 数据宝) statistics, 25 stocks in the “East-Data-West-Computing” (Dongshu Xisuan 东数西算) concept have received institutional ratings.

Among them, three names have particularly high institutional interest (more than 20 institutions):

• Zhongji Innolight (Zhongji Xuchuang 中际旭创)
• Suzhou TFC Optical Communication (Tianfu Tongxin 天孚通信)
• Envicool (Yingweike 英维克)

High institutional interest is concentrated in these infrastructure sectors:

• CPO (Co-Packaged Optics) — optical chips that move data
• Liquid cooling — keeping massive servers from overheating
• AI computing power — the raw processing units
• Servers — the hardware itself
• AIDC (AI Data Centers) — the facilities that house everything

These aren’t sexy like AI chatbots.

But they’re the unglamorous backbone enabling everything else.

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The Bottom Line: Entry Points Determine Eras

The AI entry point battle represents more than just a competition between three companies.

It’s a fundamental contest for which ecosystem will dominate the next decade of user behavior, commerce, and data flow.

Alibaba is betting on commerce as the hook.

ByteDance is betting on content and hardware integration.

Tencent is betting on social relationships.

One of them will win big.

And smart investors are watching their shadow stocks and the infrastructure layer to capture that upside.

The AI entry point race has just begun—and the next phase promises to be brutal.

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References

• AI Entry Point Battle: Shadow Stocks Exposed – DataBao (Shujubao 数据宝)
• Financial Market Updates and Data – East Money (Dongfang Caifu 东方财富)
• Market Trends and Institutional Research – Securities Times (Zhengquan Shibao 证券时报)
• AI Industry Investment Analysis – Guosen Securities (Guosen Zhengquan 国信证券)