As of May 2026, the monthly active user (MAU) statistics for diverse categories of AI applications have revealed distinct trends. Native AI apps have surged to 499 million users, marking an impressive 85.4% year-on-year increase. In contrast, AI application plugins have seen a decline, with their user base shrinking to 644 million, a 7.9% drop from the previous year. Meanwhile, AI applications developed by terminal manufacturers have flourished, reaching 755 million users, up by 14.0% year-on-year. On the PC front, web-based AI applications have experienced a significant downturn, with MAUs plummeting to 172 million, a 22.8% decrease. Conversely, AI applications on PC clients have shown resilience, growing to 18 million users, a 20.1% increase year-on-year.

When examining the average monthly usage per user, native AI apps lead the pack with an average of 92.7 uses per month. AI application plugins follow with 60.9 uses, while AI applications from terminal manufacturers average 51.4 uses. PC web-based AI applications lag behind with 25.3 uses, and PC client-based AI applications slightly surpass them with 26.9 uses per month.

The landscape of the top 10 AI applications remains relatively stable, with Doubao, Qianwen, and DeepSeek emerging as the frontrunners in the first tier. These applications boast impressive MAUs of 382 million, 167 million, and 130 million, respectively. Notably, the year-on-year growth rates are highly concentrated within this elite group, with Doubao experiencing a remarkable 172.1% surge and Qianwen skyrocketing by an astonishing 5792.9%.