China’s ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, has unveiled Doubao 2.0, its latest AI chatbot version, amidst growing competition in China’s dynamic AI industry and amidst allegations from Disney regarding a different video-generation model.
The announcement of the update was made on February 14, just before the Lunar New Year holiday, a time when Chinese tech firms aim to grab the public’s attention as millions of individuals travel and engage online.
Doubao 2.0 is positioned by ByteDance as a model tailored for the “agent era,” wherein AI systems are anticipated to undertake intricate, multi-step tasks beyond simple prompt responses. The company stated that the pro version of the model offers advanced reasoning and task execution capabilities comparable to leading systems developed by OpenAI and Google, while also significantly reducing usage costs, as reported by Reuters.
This release coincides with Chinese AI companies striving to prevent a scenario akin to last year’s unexpected emergence of DeepSeek, a model that garnered global interest and was often likened to top US systems. Deepseek is reportedly gearing up to introduce a new AI model with robust coding capabilities in February, as per a previous report by The Information.
Based on data from the research firm QuestMobile in December, Doubao boasted 155 million weekly active users in China, surpassing DeepSeek’s 81.6 million user count.
In a separate development, ByteDance has come under fire from Disney over its recently launched AI video model, Seedance 2.0. In a reported cease-and-desist letter from Axios, Disney alleged that the model produced videos featuring characters like Spider-Man and Darth Vader without proper authorization. A Disney lawyer expressed concerns about potential unauthorized reproduction and distribution of their intellectual property.
