Core Viewpoint - The competition in the "AI cloud market" between Alibaba and ByteDance is intensifying, with both companies claiming leadership in various metrics, leading to a complex landscape of market share claims and statistics [1][4][20]. Group 1: Market Share Claims - ByteDance's Volcano Engine claims a 46.4% market share in China's public cloud model market, emphasizing its dominance without using extreme terms like "first" [1]. - Different companies, including Alibaba, ByteDance, and Baidu, all assert they are "number one" in the AI cloud market, but their claims are based on different metrics and definitions [4][20]. - The statistics used by Volcano Engine focus on the Model as a Service (MaaS) segment, which may not encompass all cloud service usage, leading to questions about the comprehensiveness of their claims [3][7]. Group 2: Revenue and Service Models - Alibaba Cloud's definition of AI cloud includes a full-stack service model, covering Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and MaaS, leading to a total revenue figure that positions it as a leader in the AI cloud market [11][21]. - Baidu's claims of being the "first" in AI public cloud services include a broader range of revenue sources, including customized industry services [9][21]. - The overall market for MaaS is still relatively small compared to traditional cloud computing, with Alibaba Cloud's revenue exceeding 800 billion yuan in 2024, highlighting the disparity in scale [17][18]. Group 3: Competitive Strategies - The competition is shifting from price wars to a focus on service depth and model efficiency, as companies realize that simply lowering prices is not a sustainable strategy [23]. - Smaller AI model companies are finding it increasingly important to differentiate themselves, as they lack the resources to adopt a full-stack approach like larger competitors [24]. - The market is evolving towards valuing self-developed models and their performance, with a report indicating that Alibaba's self-developed model holds a significant market share in terms of daily token usage [22].

Core Insights - The article emphasizes that the volume of Tokens called is a more accurate reflection of the actual load of large models in the AI cloud market than the scale of GPU computing power [2][6][11] - Volcano Engine has emerged as a significant player in the Chinese AI cloud market, with a revenue target exceeding 20 billion yuan for 2025, following a revenue of over 11 billion yuan in 2024 [2][3][35] - The focus on Token consumption indicates a shift in the cloud computing industry from selling computing power to selling Tokens, which could provide a competitive advantage for Volcano Engine [6][20][36] Market Position - According to IDC reports, Volcano Engine holds a 49.2% market share in the large model public cloud service market for the first half of 2025, up from 46.4% in 2024 [3][6] - In the AI infrastructure market, Volcano Engine ranks third with a 9% market share, and in the generative AI infrastructure market, it ranks second with a 14.2% market share [3] Token Consumption Growth - The Token consumption in China is experiencing rapid growth, with a reported increase of nearly 10 times from June to December 2024 [7][12] - The total Token consumption in the Chinese large model public cloud service market reached 537 trillion times in the first half of 2025 [7] - Volcano Engine's Ark platform saw a year-on-year increase of 3.98 times in Token consumption [7] Strategic Focus - Volcano Engine prioritizes Token consumption over revenue from GPU computing, viewing it as a better indicator of AI industry health and customer engagement [6][9][10] - The company aims to create a virtuous cycle where stronger model capabilities lead to increased AI applications and higher Token consumption [10][21] Future Outlook - Predictions suggest that by the end of 2027, the daily Token consumption of the Doubao model could exceed 100 trillion, marking a growth of at least 100 times from 2024 [18] - The shift from "selling computing power" to "selling Tokens" is seen as a significant evolution in cloud computing technology and business models [20][36] Competitive Landscape - Volcano Engine's strategy mirrors that of Google, which has successfully integrated its AI models with consumer applications to enhance Token consumption and reduce computing costs [22][35] - The company is positioned to leverage its extensive consumer application ecosystem, including Douyin and Doubao, to further increase its market share in Token consumption [34][35]