ByteDance has launched a full-scale attack on the global AI chatbot market. Led by "Cici," the overseas version of "Doubao," which boasts over 150 million monthly users in China by 2023, ByteDance is rapidly expanding its presence in key regions such as the UK, Mexico, and Southeast Asia.
CiCi is a region-restricted app, inaccessible in China or the United States. CiCi is acquiring users through customized marketing strategies tailored to local markets. According to meta-advertising data, it ran over 400 ads in Mexico alone, with dozens more campaigns also running in the UK and the Philippines. These ads are centered around the "free math problem solving" feature, and awareness is being raised through a hashtag campaign using TikTok influencers, "#ciciai."
According to Sensor Tower data, Sisi has been among the top 20 free app downloads on Google Play in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Mexico, and the UK over the past three months, and has reached number 9 on the UK Apple App Store. In Mexico, it has been ranked number one for a full week.
Technically, Sisi utilizes OpenAI's GPT and Google's Gemini instead of ByteDance's own model, and integrates some of its own technologies, including the photo editor PicPic and the code assistant Coze. The chat interface is similar to DuBao, offering text and voice conversations, image generation, and user-created agents. However, music or video creation features are not yet included, and content sharing capabilities are limited.
Since the success of TikTok, ByteDance has failed to create a follow-up with the same global impact. However, CiSi's rapid growth demonstrates its commitment to user acquisition, even at the cost of significant marketing expenditures. In overseas markets outside of China's regulatory protections, CiSi will face direct competition from companies like OpenAI, Antropik, and Google, making brand credibility and localization strategies crucial.
