ByteDance’s US$4b projected AI revenue tops China as it restructures office tool Lark

ByteDance's projected annual AI revenue of US$4 billion is the largest known to the public among Chinese rivals, as the Beijing-based company restructures its office tool Lark by integrating its product team into the Doubao AI chatbot unit, according to an internal memo seen by the South China Morning Post. The moves aim to build stronger AI product competitiveness and customer service capabilities.

ByteDance’s US$4b projected AI revenue tops China as it restructures office tool Lark Company’s projected annual AI revenue is the largest known to the public among Chinese rivals, but still far behind US AI firms Coco Feng /author/coco-feng in Guangdong ByteDance https://www.scmp.com/topics/bytedance?module=inline&pgtype=article has integrated its enterprise collaboration unit into other teams, a move that sharpens its focus on using artificial intelligence https://www.scmp.com/topics/artificial-intelligence?module=inline&pgtype=article to serve corporate clients as annualised AI revenue of US$4 billion pushes it to the front of the pack in China, according to sources. The Beijing-based company decided to integrate the product team of office tool Lark, known as Feishu domestically, into the product team in charge of the Doubao AI chatbot, according to an internal memo seen by the South China Morning Post on Thursday. The new bigger section would be led by Zhao Qi, who previously oversaw Doubao only, while David Xie Xin, the CEO of the Lark unit, would report to Zhao, the memo said. Meanwhile, Lark’s sales, marketing and customer services personnel would merge with a team under the cloud unit Volcano Engine, establishing a new department responsible for sales and customer service for the firm’s model-as-a-service and software-as-a-service offerings, as well as other cloud services, according to the memo. Tan Dai, the president of Volcano Engine, would take over the new team, the memo said. Similarly, Lark’s development and infrastructure team would be merged into Flow, a division that focuses on AI applications. ByteDance said the moves aimed to build “stronger AI product competitiveness and customer service capabilities”.