China tops U.S. in consumer AI use, Morgan Stanley finds

China has overtaken the United States in consumer artificial intelligence adoption, driven not by superior model performance but by the integration of AI into the everyday apps hundreds of millions of people already use, according to a new report from Morgan Stanley ↘ 0.46% published on Monday.

The bank's AlphaWise survey found that 80% of Chinese respondents used AI for personal purposes at least once a week, compared with 54% in the United States — a 26-percentage-point gap. The findings underscore a widening divide: the U.S. continues to lead in frontier AI model benchmarks, while China is pulling ahead in putting those capabilities into consumers' hands.chosun+1

Super Apps as the Distribution Engine

Morgan Stanley attributed China's advantage to a strategy it called "adoption through lifestyle apps." Rather than requiring users to download standalone AI tools, Chinese tech companies have embedded generative AI features — text, image, and video creation — directly into shopping, search, messaging, and entertainment platforms.scmp+1

Alibaba's ↗ 4.33% Qwen chatbot illustrates the approach. Connected to Alibaba's ecosystem of e-commerce, travel booking, maps, and payments, Qwen reached 161 million monthly active users in July, according to QuestMobile data cited in the report. The bank also noted that Tencent's WeChat stands to gain as AI features are woven into its messaging, mini-programs, and payment infrastructure.chosun+1

Rapid Growth and a 300 Billion Yuan Opportunity

China's generative AI user base grew from roughly 249 million in December 2024 to 602 million in December 2025, a pace Morgan Stanley said exceeded the early spread of mobile internet in the country. The bank projected that by 2030, the consumer AI monetization opportunity in China could approach 300 billion yuan (approximately $41 billion), with about 99% of revenue coming from advertising and transaction commissions. Tencent, Alibaba, and Meituan were named as primary beneficiaries.finance.biggo+3

What Performance Alone Cannot Buy

The report arrives as basic AI services remain free in both countries, making distribution — not raw capability — the differentiating factor. A tech industry source quoted by The Chosun Ilbo said, "It is important not only the performance of AI itself but also how well it connects to actual usage and transactions within existing services".chosun