An app has just surpassed ChatGPT to become the most downloaded AI app

The video editing app CapCut recorded 38.42 million downloads in July, surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which only achieved 19.81 million downloads during the same period.

According to industry research company Unique Capital, CapCut and Doubao from media giant ByteDance (the company that owns TikTok) are currently leading in global downloads for AI apps as of July. This is a sign that TikTok’s owner’s efforts to promote generative AI (GenAI) are showing notable results.

The video editing app CapCut recorded 38.42 million downloads in July, while the Doubao chatbot achieved 27.45 million downloads, surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which only reached 19.81 million downloads during the same period, according to Unique Capital’s report.

Known as JianYing in mainland China, CapCut — a video editing software with GenAI features widely used by TikTok, Douyin, and Instagram users — had 323 million monthly active users (MAU) in July. Meanwhile, Doubao, launched in August last year, had 30.42 million MAU in July, compared to 172 million for ChatGPT during the same period.

GenAI refers to algorithms used to create new content, including audio, images, text, code, and video. The rise of CapCut and Doubao as some of the most widely used GenAI apps worldwide reflects ByteDance’s persistence as the world’s largest unicorn in rapidly mobilizing resources to keep pace with advancements in this field.

These positive signals come just a few months after ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo criticized employees for their slow response to the emergence of ChatGPT, which sparked an AI craze following its release on November 30, 2022. In the first quarter, Liang set three GenAI goals for ByteDance: increasing AI talent recruitment, enhancing organizational structure, and improving fundamental research.

Earlier this month, ByteDance also entered the market with text-to-video services similar to OpenAI’s Sora. The media giant launched Jimeng AI, which is now available for download on the App Store and Google Play in China. This app was released on July 31 for mobile devices, following the earlier release of a desktop version in May.

In May, ByteDance released a series of large language models (LLMs) — the technology behind ChatGPT and other GenAI services — at lower prices than its industry competitors. This move sparked a price war for AI models in mainland China.

According to Unique Capital’s report, the most popular GenAI app categories include AI assistants, image and video editing tools, and AI search. The report notes that Kimi, the chatbot from Moonshot AI, a company backed by Alibaba Group Holding, achieved 24.05 million monthly web visits in July, an 18% increase from the previous month, leading the domestic market. Baidu’s Ernie Bot and Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen follow Kimi in rankings.