Core Insights - The article emphasizes the rapid growth of AI applications in the mobile internet sector, highlighting the resilience of the internet industry and the importance of finding new scenarios and technology applications to meet user demands [2][3]. Group 1: AI Application Market Overview - As of June 2025, the AI application market has developed into four tiers, with the first tier consisting of AI search engines and comprehensive assistants, boasting monthly active users (MAU) of 685 million and 612 million respectively [3]. - The second tier includes AI social interaction and professional advisors, with MAUs of 126 million and 111 million [3]. - The third tier comprises AI efficiency tools and image processing applications, with MAUs of 69 million and 49 million [3]. - The fourth tier includes applications like AI creative design and educational tools, each around 20 million MAUs [3]. Group 2: User Engagement and Application Types - The growth of "In-App AI" reflects users' preference for scenario-based tools, with 630 million users engaging with mobile app plugins, while native apps saw a decline of 20 million users [4][10]. - The report indicates that 74.5% of plugin applications maintained positive growth, although there is significant structural differentiation in growth rates across different scales [30][32]. Group 3: Competitive Landscape and Trends - The AI search and comprehensive assistant sectors are experiencing a dual oligopoly, with a notable shift towards service integration and practical solutions [13][39]. - The report highlights that 67.4% of native apps experienced negative growth in the first half of the year, indicating a challenging environment for smaller applications [27]. - The article notes that the average app with AI integration has 2.1 AI applications, confirming that plugin forms are currently the most effective path for AI deployment [17]. Group 4: Key Players and Performance Metrics - Major players in the AI application market include Baidu AI, which leads the search engine segment with 29.4 million MAUs, and Tencent's AI applications, which have shown significant growth rates [22][63]. - The report identifies that the average growth rate for Tencent's Yuanbao app was 55.2%, indicating strong user engagement [29][66]. - The performance of AI applications is closely tied to their ability to integrate deeply into user workflows, with companies needing to enhance their AI capabilities to remain competitive [61][47]. Group 5: Future Outlook and Strategic Recommendations - The future of AI applications will depend on the ability to either become the "only option" in users' minds or to embed deeply into essential workflows [61][61]. - Companies are encouraged to focus on enhancing model capabilities and cross-modal interaction to drive future growth in the AI sector [58][61].