ByteDance's Doubao doubles token use in six months as China's AI boom gathers pace

Core Insights - ByteDance's Doubao has seen a significant increase in token processing, with daily usage rising from 12.7 trillion in March to over 30 trillion in September, indicating a strong growth in AI adoption among Chinese consumers [1][5] - The daily average token usage in September represents a 253-fold increase from May 2024, matching the total daily average for all of China in late June [2] - Overall token consumption in China is estimated to be doubling every two to three months, reflecting rapid AI adoption across various industries [4][6] Company Performance - ByteDance's Volcano Engine has emerged as a leader in China's cloud market for token processing, holding a 49.2% market share in the first half of 2025 [7] - In comparison, Alibaba Cloud and Baidu Cloud hold 27% and 17% market shares, respectively [7] - The surge in token processing positions ByteDance among the world's largest token processors, alongside major players like Microsoft and Google [5][6] Industry Trends - Tokens serve as the basic units of data processed by AI models and are also the standard billing units for AI model usage through APIs [3][4] - The rapid increase in token consumption is unprecedented, with AI adoption outpacing previous technological advancements [4] - Different industry reports indicate varying metrics for cloud service providers, with Alibaba Cloud, Volcano Engine, and Baidu Cloud leading in different categories based on research methodologies [8]