Alibaba’s AI assistant app, Quark, has officially taken the lead as the most popular AI app in China as of March 2025.
According to data from Aicpb.com, Quark now has nearly 150 million monthly active users (MAUs) globally. This puts it ahead of ByteDance’s Doubao, which has around 100 million MAUs. DeepSeek follows with about 77 million MAUs.
The rankings are based on app store data from Apple, Google, and Chinese Android platforms. Website traffic was not included.
A Strategic Shift For Alibaba
Quark began as a cloud storage and search service. It has since been rebranded into an AI assistant available on both mobile and desktop platforms.
Alibaba previously reported a total of 200 million users for Quark but did not break down how those users were distributed across different platforms.
A report from Andreessen Horowitz ranked Quark sixth globally among AI apps by MAUs in March. It followed Baidu’s AI Search, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Microsoft’s Edge browser with built-in AI features.
China’s AI Strategy Pays Off
Quark’s rise is being seen as a result of China’s long-term investment in artificial intelligence. In 2017, the Chinese government launched a plan to become a global AI leader by 2030, setting 2025 as a key milestone.
That strategy included large-scale funding, development of local talent, and the use of extensive data resources. The growth of Quark and other Chinese AI apps shows that this effort is bearing fruit.
Building On Existing Platforms
Alibaba’s approach with Quark shows the power of transforming existing platforms instead of creating new AI tools from scratch. By turning a previously popular app into an AI assistant, Alibaba avoided the early growth challenges that many startups face.
This strategy mirrors moves by other tech companies. Microsoft, for example, integrated AI into its Edge browser instead of launching a separate app. That helped Edge become one of the most used AI-enabled applications globally.
By repurposing Quark, Alibaba managed to outpace purpose-built competitors like Doubao. This shows how established platforms can give companies a major edge in the fast-growing AI market.
