China Bytedance launches Doubao 2.0 artificial intelligence model

ByteDance launched its Doubao 2.0 model, an update to the country’s most used artificial intelligence (AI) application, during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins today. Doubao 2.0 is positioned for the “age of agents,” where AI models are expected to execute complex real-world tasks instead of simply answering questions. The pro version of the model matches GPT 5.2, from OpenAI, and Gemini 3 Pro, from Google, while reducing usage costs. Doubao leads all AI chatbot apps in China with 155 million weekly active users, followed by DeepSeek with 81.6 million. In the image, Doubao advertising at Beijing International Airport.