"Free, But Betrayed"... User Exodus Over Rumors Surrounding China's Top AI 'Dobao'
"Same IP Address, Spreading False Information"
Approximately 6.1 Million Fewer Users Compared to Previous Month
Verification Photos of Users Switching to Competing Services Trending on Chinese SNS
Rumors have been circulating after ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, announced that its flagship artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Dobao (豆包), is preparing to launch a paid version. In response, Dobao clarified, "This is not true."
On June 4, Chinese media outlet Huanqiu.com reported Dobao's official stance, stating, "A number of accounts using the same IP address are spreading false information that the free version of Dobao will see a decline in performance."
Recently, Dobao announced plans to release a paid version targeting professionals, which sparked rumors on social networking services (SNS) that the company would deliberately degrade the performance of the free version to drive revenue. This led to an exodus of users. According to an analysis by AIcpb.com, which tracks the popularity of AI apps, Dobao's number of visitors in May decreased by approximately 6.1 million compared to the previous month. Although Dobao's market share in China has not plummeted, a trend of users switching to other services has emerged. On Chinese SNS platforms, posts asking for recommendations of free AI services that can replace Dobao and verification photos showing users migrating to competitors are rapidly increasing.
ByteDance, Dobao's parent company, stated that these rumors are not true, clarifying that "search, Q&A, writing, image generation, and voice and video chat will continue to be provided for free." The professional version can also be used free of charge within certain usage limits.
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Meanwhile, Dobao has unveiled three types of paid subscription plans. The standard version is priced at 68 yuan per month (about 15,000 won) or 688 yuan per year (about 157,000 won). The advanced version costs 200 yuan per month (about 45,000 won) or 2,048 yuan per year (about 467,000 won). The professional version is set at 500 yuan per month (about 110,000 won) or 5,088 yuan per year (about 1,168,000 won), which is considered relatively expensive. Ilgan Economic News reported on the paid plans last month, noting, "It remains to be seen whether subscribers will continue to use Dobao at these price points."
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